1. Welcome, Introduction and Declarations of Interest, Professor Evelyn Collins
The Chair opened the meeting, welcomed attendees and confirmed no new conflicts of interest.
The Minutes of 9 December 2025 meeting were approved.
The records of the two ad hoc meetings held in January were also noted.
The Chair thanked Wendy Sigle and Richard Laux for their work pulling together the Committee’s response to the two Census consultations and all members for their input which was very valuable. The response and cover letter were noted.
She also advised on a talk she had given on the work of the Committee to the Equality and Diversity Forum in March, which had been useful.
The Chair provided updates on the 2031 Census topic consultation which closed on 5 February, 720 responses were received and are being considered; the Ethnicity Harmonisation consultation also closed on 5 February, with1433 responses received and being considered; the evaluation criteria for this was published on 4 March; and the GSS Harmonisation sex and gender identity workplan which included next steps on Harmonised guidance on sex.
2. ONS Prioritisation Update – Committee Discussion, Professor Evelyn Collins
potential implications for continuity, quality, and local level analysis due to reductions to health related surveys
the future of local data, particularly sample boosts and implications for intersectional analysis and small population groups
an apparent disconnect between central government policy priorities and ONS deprioritisation of certain outputs (e.g., tourism GVA)
potential risks due to proposed loss of datasets, which would affect equalities analysis, (environmental and health inequality statistics)
It was agreed that further clarification was required from ONS around the potential implications of the prioritisation plans for inclusive data, and that the Permanent Secretary should be invited to a future meeting.
Although not raised in the letter, members expressed concerns over the potential removal of the GSS equalities statistics interactive database from the ONS website.
The Chair will reflect these concerns in her report of this meeting to the UK Statistics Authority Interim Chair.
3. Intersectional Analysis Using Census 2021 – Presentation by Charlotte Standeven (ONS)
Charlotte Standeven presented on ONS’s emerging data-linkage research using Census 2021 and administrative data to analyse unemployment at the intersection of ethnicity and disability.
In the following discussion, members sought further detail on the model specification, sample size, confidence intervals and its ability to account for varying effects of age and sex across ethnic groups; feasibility of including religion as an additional analytical dimension; and the risk of “data dredging” within modelling analysis.
Charlotte welcomed ongoing engagement with NSIDAC members and will share the forthcoming Methods and Research Panel (MARP) paper with them when published.
4. Centre for Equalities and Inclusion – Presentation by Shona Horter (ONS)
Shona Horter provided an overview of the Centre’s inclusive data research programme, highlighting its Government Statistical Service systemwide remit and links to policy decision making. The work being undertaken aims to broaden the range of methods and approaches used to understand experiences across the UK population, in line with IDTF 6.
The Committee’s comments included suggestions that Centre consider further wider cross system sharing of best practice; user-driven “data democracy” approaches; and aligning with emerging work on AI and qualitative data analysis.
5. Discussion, Professor Evelyn Collins
The Committee reflected on the two ONS presentations, emphasising the importance of qualitative data in identifying gaps and shaping future surveys/census design; the need for frameworks that integrate qualitative evidence into statistical decision making; and the potential role of AI assisted analysis of qualitative datasets.
6. Welsh Government Social Model of Disability – Presentation by Ieuan Davies (Welsh Government)
Ieuan Davies summarised findings from the Welsh Government’s research programme to develop new survey questions grounded in the social model of disability, just published. This work has produced two new question sets:
Impairment questions (updated from harmonised standards)
Barriers questions (domains based and social model types)
The Committee was very interested in this work and welcomed the detailed analysis presented. Some concerns were expressed about divergence from UK wide harmonised standards and the practical feasibility of large question sets. Due to shortage of time, Ieuan offered to answer questions outside of the meeting and this was appreciated.
Orla showcased the new NISRA Equality Matters platform, a collaboration between NISRA and The Executive Office, due to be launched on 18 May. Its aim is to improve access to and dissemination of equality data across the NI Civil Service to provide transparency to decision-making for effective policy development.
The Committee welcomed this development and noted long term sustainability will be essential.
8. Scottish Government – Public Participation in Data – Presentation by Dr Tom Wilkinson (Scottish Government)
Tom Wilkinson presented Scotland’s use of deliberative democracy tools to understand public views on data sharing and to support trustworthy data‑sharing decisions and increase public confidence.
The Committee welcomed the presentation and suggested that it would be useful for this project to explore potential to link with Liverpool’s civic data cooperative and Connected By Data.
9. Discussion, Professor Evelyn Collins
The Committee reflected on the three presentations, suggesting: potential opportunities to explore trust and participatory data governance at a future meeting; a desire for a future agenda item to allow for a deeper examination of disability measurement work; and to request an update on ONS’s evolving website commitments and the future of the GSS equalities statistics interactive database.
