Commons Sense

House of Commons · General Debate

Public Body Ethnicity Data (Inclusion of Jewish and Sikh Categories)

04 December 2024 · 1 other contributor

Opened by Preet Kaur Gill Lab Co-op Birmingham Edgbaston

Women & Equalities

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Preet Kaur Gill raised concerns about public body ethnicity data (inclusion of jewish and sikh categories) in the House of Commons. Other MPs contributed to the debate.

Key points

  • The Bill requires public bodies to include specific 'Sikh' and 'Jewish' categories when collecting data on ethnicity.
  • The proposal aims to address the legal recognition of Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups under the Equality Act 2010.
  • The bill seeks to improve policymaking by rectifying poor religious data collection practices that lead to the invisibility of these communities.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Preet Kaur Gill Lab Co-op Birmingham Edgbaston

The Bill aims to provide that public bodies collecting data about ethnicity must include specific 'Sikh' and 'Jewish' categories. It addresses the legal recognition of Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups under the Equality Act 2010, highlighting their invisibility in policymaking due to poor religious data collection practices. The proposal seeks to rectify discrimination and inequality faced by these communities through better data collection on ethnicity.

Other contributors (1)
  • Preet Kaur Gill Lab Co-op Birmingham Edgbaston

    The Bill would address a fundamental absurdity in the fight against discrimination and inequality, making Sikhs and Jews visible to policymakers. The Women and Equalities Committee identified a lack of Sikh data in Government datasets. Current religious data is poor, patchy and incomplete, failing to capture inequalities or provide public services based on ethnicity. The proposal seeks accurate data collection for health, housing, crime, criminal justice, the public sector workforce, and the ethnicity pay gap.

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