Conservatives for Women
Here are some suggested topics you may wish to cover in a letter/email to your MP. You can find your MP’s email address here. The text in bright pink is for guidance purposes. We suggest you also copy it for the attention of (FAO) Rt.Hon. Elizabeth Truss and to Sir Ian Diamond at the Office for National Statistics. You can contact Liz Truss in her role as Minister for Women and Equalities here, and you can contact Sir Ian Diamond at the ONS here.
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(Address why the Census is important to you or your community, e.g. it drives many government decisions on things such as health and education.) Women are subject to discrimination and disadvantage on the basis of their sex. In order to address this we need to be counted, we must have data, which needs to be robust and of the highest quality.
I
(read an article/saw a letter in the newspaper/have seen discussions on social media/attended a webinar, (give a reference if you have one, links at the bottom))
about plans for the next Census.
It appears the Census authorities are considering issuing guidance for the question about sex which will allow people to respond without giving their actual sex. They propose to do this even though there is to be a new, separate question on gender identity.
(If you are also concerned about the Census rolling out the idea that we all have a ‘inner gender identity’, you may want to say so here, although some people feel it is useful to have a question on gender identity so we can get data on how many people do subscribe to this idea.)
See point 2, from the
ONS website,
here: “The sex question on the census will be mandatory, so will need to be answered by all. However, for those whose gender is different from their sex registered at birth, who may find the question difficult to answer, the answer they provide does not need to be the same as their birth certificate.”
I am concerned
(or other words to describe your feelings)
that UK wide Census authorities are ignoring the impact of this guidance on the quality of data collected. Many social statisticians, quantitative social scientists and epidemiologists also raised serious concerns almost a year ago (see this letter
to The Sunday Times). I believe there is very little point in the immense amount of time, bureaucracy and money spent on gathering Census information if the information itself is inaccurate; it brings the Census into disrepute and will affect compliance.
I am keen to hear your thoughts on this and would also ask you to raise this with the relevant Minister and the Office for National Statistics as a matter of urgency. The Census takes place in the first half of 2021 and guidance will need to be issued (and printed for those using paper returns) well before it takes place.
Your sincerely,
(Ensure you include your name and address so your MP knows you are a constituent).
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Example articles: (You may be aware of others)
