A new policy briefing, produced in partnership with Roma Support Group, Advicenow, Liverpool Hope University and Lancaster University, calls for reform of the UK’s Ethnicity Harmonised Standard (EHS) to include a separate Roma category and to disaggregate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller identities across national datasets.

The briefing,

Ethnicity Harmonised Standard &…

, examines how ethnicity is currently recorded across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It highlights inconsistencies in the EHS and census question sets, including the omission of Roma in some datasets and the conflation of Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller categories in others.

The authors argue that these inconsistencies produce incomplete and misleading data, limiting the ability of government departments, public bodies and service providers to monitor inequalities effectively, meet Public Sector Equality Duty obligations, and develop targeted, evidence-based policy responses.

Drawing on a joint response submitted to the Government Statistical Service’s consultation on user needs for additional response options in a future ethnicity standard, the briefing sets out the case for:

• Including a distinct Roma category within the Ethnicity Harmonised Standard
• Disaggregating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller identities into separate response options
• Harmonising ethnicity categories consistently across the UK nations

The report explains that more granular and consistent data would improve equality monitoring under the Equality Act 2010, support fairer resource allocation, enable better evaluation of national strategies, and assist services in designing culturally appropriate and responsive support.

The briefing is authored by Dan Allen (Liverpool Hope University), Dr Joanna Kostka (Lancaster University), Dada Felja (Advicenow) and Mihai Calin Bica (Roma Support Group).