Dear Ms Newton,

I want to take this opportunity to thank you and your fellow Cornish Members of Parliament for your contribution in response to the consultation and research undertaken for the 2021 Census topics.

The recommendations on the content and conduct of the 2021 Census have been published today in the White Paper ‘Help Shape Our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales’[1].

The recommendations fully recognise the need of the Cornish community for data on socio-economic, educational, health and housing conditions.

Everyone who wishes to identify as Cornish will be able to do so under the proposals for the Census. They will be able to use our new “search-as-you-type” facility on the online form. This will be coupled with a strong local marketing and communications campaign. Additional local field support will also be on hand to enable all those who wish to self-identify as being of any particular identity, including Cornish, to know how to do so. This new offering will enable better data than ever before to meet this need.

In recognition of the needs of the Cornish community for data, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have made a specific recommendation in the White Paper where we will for the first time produce an analytical report on the population who identify as Cornish, and how their health, housing, work and education differs from those who do not identify as Cornish. We are also developing an on-line flexible dissemination system where users can specify the data they need and define their own queries to build tables.

I hope this provides assurance that although ONS has concluded that the need for a Cornish tick-box is very localised and not strong enough to justify its inclusion in the nationwide Census, we are committed to meeting the data needs of the Cornish community and have identified a way to achieve this.

I would be happy to meet with you to discuss the recommendations in full.

Yours sincerely,

John Pullinger

 

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-2021-census-of-population-and-housing-in-england-and-wales