Why we ask individual questions 18 and 19
ndividual question 18 asks: What is your main language? and question 19 asks: How well can you speak English?
This information helps central government, local authorities and the NHS to allocate resources and provide services for non-English speakers, for example English teaching and translation services. It is a better indicator than country of birth, which was previously used to forecast the additional cost of providing services to people whose first language is not English.
