HC Deb 08 April 1970 vol 799 c98W
Captain Kerby

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in the new questions to be answered in the 1971 Census, he will include, besides Welsh and Gaelic, the ability to read and write Ki-Swahili, Baluchi, Pushtu, Urdu, Hindi, Gujerati, Tamil, Malay and the West African tribal dialects of Ghana and Nigeria, including Ibo, in returns made throughout the United Kingdom; and in how many languages the Census forms are to be printed.

Dr. John Dunwoody

To the first part of the Question the answer is "No". The questions on language in the 1971 Census will be restricted to Welsh in Wales and Gaelic in Scotland.

It is intended that in addition to the forms printed in English there shall be Welsh language versions of the appropriate forms for use in Wales wherever required. Consideration is still being given to the number of other languages in which it will be necessary to provide translations of the questionnaire.

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