New consultation on how governments collect information about ethnicity

National Records of Scotland is encouraging stakeholders across Scotland to respond to a new UK-wide consultation on how ethnicity data is collected.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) is asking for views on response options which may be required for a new harmonised standard for collecting data on ethnicity. The consultation runs until 4 February 2026.

Harmonised standards help ensure consistency and comparability of data across different surveys and statistics. While not mandatory, statistical producers are encouraged to use them under the Code of Practice for Statistics to increase the usefulness and coherence of their data.

The new ethnicity harmonised standard will be encouraged for use across government statistics. The results from this consultation will be used alongside responses to our topic consultation in the next steps for developing a question for Scotland’s census. 

Stakeholders are encouraged to complete the online consultation questionnaire before 4 February 2026. Responses can also be sent to [email protected].

Organisations should make sure their responses reflect the views of the whole organisation rather than personal opinions.

Further information is available via the GSS website.