A QUESTIONNAIRE asking about people's sexuality is being sent out to pensioners by Craven Housing.

The daughter of a woman approaching her 90s contacted the Herald to say the survey was "highly offensive" to the elderly.

They are asked to say whether they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual - although they can tick a "prefer not to answer box".

But the woman, whose mother lives in Skipton, said many elderly people would be offended at being asked personal questions.

The questionnaire also asks people about their ethnic background.

"I can't imagine why they want this information, unless a white homosexual with one leg is going to get preference to a black lesbian with hearing problems," said the woman.

She said the fact that a £20 draw encouraged people to fill in the programme made it worse.

The survey says it will "help us provide services that meet your needs. We also want to make sure that all our residents receive equal treatment regardless of where you are from, how old you are, whether you have any disabilities, your ethnicity or culture".

It also states that a high response is "vital".

Answering the criticism, Craven Housing's chief officer David Bolton said: "I am obviously disappointed by our customers' views.

"In the past we have collected standard data in relation to age, ethnic origin, gender and disability.

"While these monitoring categories are very beneficial to us, we have extended our data categories to include sexuality and faith or belief in order to make our services more accessible and appropriate.

"In relation to faith or belief, it is important that we understand the needs of each of the main religions in the areas in which we work so that we do not tailor services on ethnic origin alone.

"With regards to monitoring sexuality, this is important as it helps us to gain a clearer picture of the type and scale of any problems faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual customers.

"In a housing situation, the sexuality of a customer may be relevant in a number of situations such has harassment or homophobic violence.

"Finally, I would stress that this request for customer information is discretionary."