About Advicenow
Advicenow (formerly Law for Life) is an education and information charity working across England and Wales to increase access to justice for people facing everyday legal problems. We equip individuals and communities with the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills they need to understand and assert their rights in areas such as welfare, benefits, housing, family, employment, and social care.
Our award‑winning public legal information service supports over 850,000 people each year and our community‑based education programmes have trained nearly 1,800 staff and volunteers from 700 organisations in London alone, indirectly reaching at least 180,000 people. We complement this work with research and policy activities informed by the issues people bring to our services, enabling us to identify unlawful practices, support legal challenges, and drive systemic change.
Artwork of Roma artist Robert Czibi
Our request
We asked Statisticians for Society to review and analyse publicly available data to test whether Roma children are overrepresented in the care system. This work was follow‑up research designed to complement our report Come to us in a peaceful way - Improving experiences of Roma children with children’s services in England.
Background
Advicenow worked with Gessienne Grey, who analysed publicly available data and academic research. With their help, we published a briefing
Unpacking imperfect data: Roma overrepresentation and the need for analytical precision in November 2025.
Our approach
- Data review and analysis — we examined publicly available datasets and assessed consistency, category design and disaggregation practices across sources.
Key findings
This research shows that inconsistencies in data collection for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities within different governmental departments hinders meaningful research and data analysis, making it difficult to accurately assess the scale and nature of inequalities faced by Roma families in their interactions with children’s services. These gaps in evidence weaken policy responses and hinder accountability, allowing systemic disparities to persist unchallenged.
The existing data reveals troubling trends that strongly suggest increasing overrepresentation of Roma children in care in England, underscoring the urgent need for more robust and disaggregated data to clarify the underlying causes.
The findings were published in a
report and an
academic article.
Impact
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We co‑authored a submission to the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Consultation, bringing together Roma NGOs, Lancaster University and the Gypsy Roma Traveller Social Work Association.
- Our briefing and evidence submission informed parliamentary scrutiny: two written parliamentary questions (HL15068 and HL15069) referenced our findings and prompted formal responses from government departments and the ONS.
- We strengthened cross‑sector collaboration by bringing statisticians, academics, Roma NGOs and social work practitioners into a shared evidence and advocacy space.
Gessienne Grey writes: “Advicenow’s advocacy and community work is incredibly inspiring, and it’s been an honour to contribute to such an important cause. The results went beyond initial expectations on both sides, which attests to the power of collaboration. As a statistician, it was a unique opportunity to broaden my horizons and apply my skills to a brand-new field in a thoroughly supportive environment. I will continue to follow the development of this initiative and remain ready to lend my skills towards its success.”
Next steps and recommendations
Volunteer: Gessienne Grey
AdviceNow lead: Dada Felja (Head of Education & Training)