Councils told to cut down on ‘intrusive’ questionnaires

Councils have a statutory duty to collect information on how their policies affect protected groups, but Communities Secretary Eric Pickles (pictured) said today that diversity questionnaires were not necessary.

Questions about gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation and other topics are often included in non-compulsory equality monitoring forms by local authorities, employers and other bodies. But some councils have been accused of going too far by asking these questions of people applying for library cards or making complaints.

Pickles said in a statement today that the new guidance was designed to cut red tape “in the interests of economy and efficiency”.

“At a time when taxpayers are watching their pennies, the last thing councils should be doing is sending out unnecessary and intrusive questionnaires,” said Pickles. “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.” Cutting down on such surveys, Pickles said, would “save taxpayers’ money and protect the privacy of resident of all backgrounds”.

But councils have pointed out that equality monitoring forms are voluntary, and are used to make sure they are properly serving all parts of the population. Councillor Paul Convery of Islington Council – which was criticised for including an equality monitoring form in its library membership applications – said: “The point here is that we want to know the extent to which new library users reflect the demography of our existing library users and our population, or not. This is a pretty standard business principle: know your customers – not intimate details but basic stuff.”

A council spokesman added that the questionnaires were “fairly standard” and entirely optional – if you don’t want to say anything “you can still join the library”.