Scottish Government

Ministerial Foreword

Ethnicity Classifications Consultation

How we define our identity is crucially important to our sense of self. As Scotland's population changes and becomes more diverse, there are new challenges in developing an ethnicity classification system which accurately reflects that diversity whilst, if possible, enabling some comparison with previous systems to allow trends to be assessed. We must be able to identify where discrimination occurs so that we can take action to tackle it. But we must also be sensitive to people's natural desire to be able to record their ethnic identity in a way which they feel best suits them.

Scottish Executive Ministers gave a commitment to review the system used for ethnicity classifications in the Census, in response to recommendations made in the 2001 Race Equality Advisory Forum report and concerns raised by communities about the inconsistent use of colour and geography in categories for ethnicity. In addition there is a specific duty for employers in the public sector under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 to monitor ethnicity. The Commission for Racial Equality ( CRE) currently recommends using the Census categories to do so. It is equally important that any new system meets the requirements of people who use the data.

This consultation paper is the second stage of the review work on the classification system. We have already carried out research with both data users (those who collect and analyse ethnicity data) and data providers (those who provide information about their ethnicity) which explored issues around the current categories. The research has fed into the proposals in this consultation paper. In addition, the Scottish Executive held a seminar with a range of stakeholder organisations including: research participants, academics, community groups, and local & central government to discuss the research findings and look at how to consult effectively. We are trying to engage with relevant organisations and stakeholders at each stage of the process. We wish to consult as widely as possible so the full range of perspectives on this matter can be considered, and we have distributed this paper to stakeholder groups, academics, local authorities, health boards, education authorities, voluntary sector and community groups. We would be grateful if you could use your own contacts to make sure anyone you know with an interest is aware of the consultation.

Once the consultation results have been analysed, we will make recommendations to the General Register Office for Scotland on the ethnicity classification system to be used in the 2006 Census Test. There will then be a further opportunity to refine the questions before their inclusion in the 2011 Census.

We very much welcome your views on the questions in the consultation paper and their implications for data providers and for data users. Thank you for your help in developing an ethnicity classification system which will better meet Scotland's needs, reflect our changing population and provide us with the information we need to tackle and eliminate discrimination.

We hope that you will take some time to consider these proposals and look forward to hearing from you.