Days Numbered for Census?

One of the world's oldest surveys, the UK's national Census, may be axed according to comments by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude. The March 2011 survey, for which preparations are far advanced, will still take place at an estimated cost of £482m.

Speaking to the Telegraph at the weekend Maude, under whose remit the Census falls, said: 'There are, I believe, ways of doing this which will provide better, quicker information, more frequently and cheaper'. He stressed that a final decision to scrap the 200-year-old survey has not yet been taken.

A variety of possible substitutes are being considered, reportedly including Post Office records, council data and credit check agencies - these are likely to be used in combination, and possibly augmented by additional smaller surveys.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said the government had been considering the options for some time, adding: 'We are committed to making a success of the 2011 Census, while endeavouring to cut its costs.'

The first Census took place in 1801: another has followed every decade with the exception of 1941 due to the Second World War. In addition to heavy use by market research agencies, the data is used by academies, charities and religious groups seeking demographic information on households, nationality and marital status, and of course by the government to plan spending - including the location of bus routes and GP surgeries - and track population changes. Critics claim the decennial format leaves some of the information out-of-date, and a number of local authorities challenged the 2001 data claiming large swathes of population had been missed.

Westminster City Council recently dismissed proposed improvements to the survey as inadequate, saying it would still not give an accurate reflection of the borough's population: the Council suffered a huge funding shortfall after 2001 when it said the Office for National Statistics severely underestimated the local population. Current criticisms include concerns over the viability of addresses, lack of proper staff training and failing to take account of short-term migration.

The 2001 count suffered further embarrassment at the hands of a concerted campaign which resulted in 0.7% of the population, some 390,000 individuals, citing their religion as 'Jedi' (www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/rank/jedi.asp ) - with the highest concentration of followers of the Force in Brighton and Hove (2.6%), closely followed by Oxford and Cambridge.

The wind of change has already been blowing on the other side of the Pond. Around a week ago, the Canadian cabinet announced that it will eliminate its mandatory long-form census in favour of a voluntary survey next year, with only a short mandatory question list for basic information including the number of people in a household, their genders and mother tongues. In the US, Republicans - and in particular Tea Party groups - have also expressed opposition to the census.

The UK's Census home page is at www.ons.gov.uk/census .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.