Pickles Says No More Pointless Demographics

In the UK, Community Secretary Eric Pickles today removed the requirement for councils to gather sensitive demographics when conducting surveys about council services.

The statutory guidelines published www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1977816 today mean that routine council data collection will no longer need to include enquiries about personal information such as race, religion and sexual orientation.

Mr Pickles said: 'At a time when taxpayers are watching their pennies, the last thing councils should be doing is sending out unnecessary and intrusive questionnaires', and added 'Local residents shouldn't be asked to reveal detailed personal information just because they've enquired about getting their bins emptied or how to join their local library.' The latter of these in response to reports that Islington library was asking residents who wished to join about their mental health and whether they had had gender reassignment surgery.

Making the case for the need for some demographics, an Equality and Human Rights Commission spokeswoman interviewed by the BBC said: 'Collecting personal information allows councils to target services where they are needed most. However, there is a balancing act to be done between the need to protect a person's privacy and the need for councils to collect this information.'

Web site: www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment .