Homelessness Statistics User Group meeting paper: March 2023

[Flash feedback was sought on whether data providers were already or were planning on collecting each of the protected characteristics and which protected characteristics were of interest to data users]

Background

Considering improving collection of sex, gender and trans status within current HL1 as a result of:

• LA data providers requests
• the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) equalities collection requirements 
• the vision to strengthen Scotland’s equality evidence base
• sex and gender reassignment are protected characteristics, gender is not
• please note, gender reassignment and trans status in this presentation is used interchangeably

Current data collection

Question 9.1 and 9.2: gender of main applicant and partner

Response options: male or female

Question 5 and 6: number of adults/children in household at the time of application, by sex and gender [as per below categories]

Adults

Age 16-17: male or female

Age 18-24: male or female

Age 25-64: male

Age 25-59: female

Age 65 or above: male

Age 60 or above: female

All ages: male or female

Children

Age 0-4: male or female

Age 5-11: male or female

Age 12-15: male or female

Age 16-18: male or female

All ages: male or female

Considerations

Are there agreed questions which meet user need?

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) guidance

• "what is your sex?"
  • response options: female, male, intersex or prefer not to say
• "do you consider yourself to be a trans person?"
  • response options: yes, no or prefer not to say

Scottish Government guidance

• "what is your sex?"
  • response options: female, male, prefer not to say or not known
• "do you consider yourself to be trans or have trans history?"
  • response options: yes, no or prefer not to say (if yes, voluntary text on trans status description)

Scottish Government collection and processing systems

• bespoke and managed in-house
  • allows flexibility around changes and updates
  • scope of changes limited by lack of technical expertise within team to adapt outdated and complex code
• adding response options to existing variables is feasible
• adding completely new variables or questions is far more complicated
• not possible to add free text boxes

Local authority management information and reporting systems

• different systems in different LAs
• varying capacity to implement changes (either by LAs directly or via software providers) with differing lead in time
• based on recent request know adding response options is feasible in short to medium term (for most)
• there may be more complex, or unanticipated changes required to systems to accommodation changes to current response options

Reporting and publishing

• any changes need reflected in LA reports and published equalities tables
• need to introduce new categories for household types
• additional categories will technically be a break in the time series and may shift proportions of male / female applicants 
  • need to communicate clearly that this cannot be attributed to new policy or interventions

Recommended options

Question 9

• rename question to sex instead of gender
• add response options intersex and perfer not to say

Question 11 [repurposed]

• repurpose question 11 which is not currently in use but was 'Has the applicant come from the family home (pre-2007 only)'
• change to 'Do you (or your partner) consider yourself to be trans, or have trans history
• response options: no, yes - main applicant only, yes - partner only, yes - both main applicant and partner or prefer not to say
• to only be asked for people aged 16+

Any anticipated issues for LA information management systems?

Would response codes need to be different from what they were for the previous question?

Question 5 and 6

• rename categories to record male and female members of household together and any other sex separately
• rename question to ‘by age and sex’
• update age categories (25-64 and 65 or above) for adults [as per below categories]

Adults

Age 16-17: male, female or other

Age 18-24: male, female or other

Age 25-64: male, female or other

Age 65 or above: male, female or other

All ages: male or female

Children

Age 0-4: male, female or other

Age 5-11: male, female or other

Age 12-15: male, female or other

Age 16-18: male, female or other

All ages: male, female or other

Any anticipated issues for LA information management systems?

[The floor was then opened up for discussion]