‘IT WOULD HAVE UNDERMINED CENSUS IN WALES’

GWYNEDD council has welcomed a commitment that the next census will be changed to be “as inclusive as possible” after attacking the proposed questionnaire for alienating Welsh people from ethnic minorities.

Councillors had written to both the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Welsh Government, angered that the 2021 survey only included the option to identify as “Black British” or “Asian British” rather than “Welsh”.

This was in contrast to the question offered in Scotland, where those from ethnic minority backgrounds could tick a box identifying themselves as British, Scottish or otherwise.

Last week, however, the Minister for Finance confirmed that discussions had taken place with the ONS to change the 2021 census – the once a decade nationwide survey which records the details of every UK citizen from their occupation and religion to education and sexuality.

Prior to the announcement, the ONS confirmed all citizens had the right to manually fill in their ethnic group if they don’t feel represented by the tick boxes on offer.

But this, councillors said, could have “forced” some to “choose between being black or being Welsh”.

“I’m pleased that after constructive conversations with the ONS and further testing to make Wales’ Census ethnicity question as inclusive as possible,” said Rebecca Evans AM in the Senedd on Monday, agreeing that the current proposals “were not inclusive.”

“These changes will now be reflected in the regulations I will be laying in the next few months.”

Cllr Nia Jeffreys who has campaigned on the issue, welcomed the climbdown and described it as “good news.”

“The principle that everyone should be able to identity themselves as Welsh is all important and I am glad that the ONS has finally seen sense on this,” she said.

“It is shameful that a government body would ever draft a census which allowed white people only to identify as Welsh – had this not been changed it would have completely undermined the Census in Wales.”