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Punjabi Community in Britain

I speak as chair of the all-party group on the Punjabi community in Britain. Hon. Members will know that the group was established 15 or 16 years ago by my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr. Spellar) and others. At that point it focused on human rights. In 1997 we expanded the scope of the group to include a range of issues affecting the Punjabi community in Britain. The group is now acknowledged as the voice of the Punjabi community in Parliament. We have had regular debates and interventions in terms of meetings with Ministers, and we have held seminars and working groups on the environment, health, human rights, nationality and visa issues. As a result of our work we have influenced the Government's agenda over the past 12 years. We would not have been able to do that work if it was not for the voluntary support from our researcher and co-ordinator, Iqbal Singh, and other colleagues. From time to time we have had Adjournment debates—this one is relatively brief—to sum up where we are on various issues. We have taken a slightly different approach to preparing for this debate, in that we have gone to our constituents via the Punjabi media, including Desi Radio, Des Pardes and Punjab Radio, and invited them to submit issues that we should raise in this debate. I appreciate that the list is wide-ranging. We will try to cover as much as we can in the time available. I also appreciate that it puts the Minister in a difficult position in respect of responding to all the issues we raise. We would welcome at least the recognition that the issues have been taken note of, with responses made subsequently if there is no time today. The first issue is about recognition. Statistics from the Office for National Statistics estimate that there are approaching nearly a million people of Punjabi origin in this country. Punjabi is this country's second language. The largest proportion of that population is Sikh, yet concern remains that Sikhs are not recognised in the census as an ethnic category. The 2011 census is coming up and is now in preparation, but there is still resistance from the ONS to the inclusion of a Sikh question. Jasvir Singh Rayat, a constituent of mine and a well-known Punjabi radio presenter, contacted me yesterday asking me to mention that. We have had representations on that matter from a number of groups and organisations this week. On Monday a report was released examining the process used by the ONS to select the ethnic groups for the 2011 questionnaire, and arguing for a change to it to include a separate tick-box for Sikhs. That reflects legal decisions that have been made over years in our courts. The ONS has still to finalise the questionnaire for the census, so will the Minister see whether she can facilitate a meeting with the ONS to resolve the issue? Time is tight, because it is hoped that the questionnaire will be determined at least by the end of February.