Somali Population of Birmingham

You asked

Under the freedom of information Act 2000, I would like you to give me the answers to these questions below.

1. Please tell me the number of registered Somali people who are currently living in Birmingham? Both adults and children.
2. Also let me know how many of the Somalis living in Birmingham are Europeans [from other European countries] and how many of them are British at the moment.
3. How many Somali couples in Birmingham are now living as separate? Both British-Somalis and European-Somalis.
4. Also please tell me how many Somali people in Birmingham are now receiving housing benefits and their ages. Please tell the age groups of all of them.
5. Let me also know how many Somalis in Birmingham are on low income and getting income support?
6. Please also tell me how many Somali-owned businesses are now open in Birmingham. How many are food stores? How many are coffee shops and how many are restaurants including takeaways?

We said

1. The 2011 Census provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date population statistics held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and details of the information we are able to provide are set out below.

   Table SP009 (19.5 Kb Excel sheet) - gives details by age and sex for the Somali population in the unitary authority of Birmingham. Please note information for the Somali population has been derived from responses to the census ethnic group question.

2. Table DC2208EWr (25.5 Kb Excel sheet) - this dataset provides information on country of birth and passports held for the Somali population in the West Midlands. Please note each person is counted once and therefore people only appear in one category even if they held more than one passport. In cases where a person is recorded on the census form as having more than one passport, they were categorised in the following priority order - ‘UK passport’, ‘Irish passport’, ‘Other Passport’.

   Guidance on specific concepts and definitions used in the tables is set out below.

   Usual Resident - the main population base for outputs from the 2011 Census is the usual resident population on census day (27th March 2011). For 2011 Census purposes, a usual resident is anyone who, on census day, was in the United Kingdom (UK) and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

   Ethnic Group - classifies people according to their own perceived ethnic group and cultural background.

   Country of Birth - the country in which a person was born. The country of birth question included six tick box responses - one for each of the four parts of the UK, one for the Republic of Ireland and one for ‘Elsewhere’. Where a person ticked ‘Elsewhere’, they were asked to write in the current name of the country in which they were born. Responses are assigned codes based on the National Statistics Country Classification.

   Passports Held - classify a person according to the passport or passports they held at the time of the 2011 Census. People were asked to indicate whether they held no passport, a United Kingdom passport, an Irish passport, or a passport from another country, and to write in the name of the other country if applicable. If more than one of the options were applicable people were asked to indicate all that applied.

   Further information on census definitions, variables and classifications can be accessed from the attached link:

   https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census/2011censusdata/2011censususerguide/glossary

3. We have reviewed the range of standard outputs produced from the 2011 Census on the living arrangements (couples living separately) for usual residents in private households in Birmingham. Unfortunately, there are no tables available giving details for Somali couples living separately. However, a bespoke service is provided which may enable you to commission a special table on this topic and seek additional information on country of birth and passports held. Advice on how to request a table can be found here:

   http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-data/2011-census-data-catalogue/commissioned-tables/index.html

   The Census Commissioned Tables team are responsible for estimating the costs and delivery time for any new commissions. In all cases any table that is produced must adhere to our strict disclosure control process to ensure that there is no risk of disclosing personal information in the table.

4. This information is not held by ONS. We recommend that you contact the Department for Work and Pensions to see if they are able to provide any information.

   https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions - DWP contact page

   https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-benefit-and-council-tax-benefit-caseload-statistics--2 - Housing benefit statistics

5. This information is not held by ONS and we do not know where this information could be found.

6. This information is not held by ONS and we do not know where this information could be found.