General Chat

arrrrrhhhhhh !
The 2011 census has just dropped on my doormat.
Off to do some study now
I may be a while
Joan x

Dont forget to make several copies for other family members

Hi Mark.
I will make a copy for my files and youngest daughter has just suggested that I put another copy in a time capsule.
Joan

I haven't opened mine yet

Prison Governers will enjoy filling the inmates on the Census form.

I'm disappointed that the census doesn't ask how long you have been married, how many children you have had and if any have died - as the 1911 census did.

There are three of us at home and it took me about an hour to fill it in - and my memory being the way it is I can't for the life of me remember the exact year that I last worked - so I gave it my best guess!!

Kath. x

Also just noticed, unless I have missed it, does not ask where in England you were born. Will make it difficult in future to know which John Smith is yours lol.

Carol

They already know exactly where you work BCC, after all you pay NI and taxes. In fact there is absolutely nothing in this census that they don't know already or cannot find from other sources., hence this probably being the last census.
As for being about where you live and local councils - I don't think so. We pay our council taxes, water, gas and electric bills and we are mostly on the electral roll. Do you really think they don't know where every one of us lives already?
It is a massive and obcene waste of public money.

May I just mention BCC, that if you decide to leave out answers to questions, someone from the Census team will phone or visit you about it.
I've recently been speaking to someone who went on the Census team course for just such a job - visiting all those households which have posted back incomplete forms, because, by law, we are required to fill them out .
:-)

K

Iv still got to phone them and ask for an exra form as there are 7 of us in this house and only 6 name on the form

and im still woundering as to what name i should put my daughter down as

The census provides a high quality estimate of the population. It is a count of all people and households in England and Wales and is carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Everyone is asked the same questions on the same day in order to take a snapshot of the population at one point in time. The statistics describe the population at national, regional and local levels.

This level of detail is not currently available from any other data sources.

The information collected on the questionnaires is used to help government and local authorities plan the services and resources people need, such as transport, housing, healthcare and education. The amount of money your council has to spend on these important services is based on population statistics from the census. That is why it is so important that everyone takes part.

Shelly,

If you complete on line you won't need the continuation form.

http://www.census.gov.uk/

The site also has Help pages on how to fill it in and loads of information as to why the census is so important, how the questions have evolved and how the information collected will be used.

Karen, A Census Collector will only call if you fail to submit a return or submit a blank return. They will not call if you miss out the odd answer. However, failing to complete the form properly is a bit like shooting your own foot. You, your family and your neighbours are the ones that loose out in the long run.

The fact is they do not need the "snapshot" as you put it.
They already have all the information they need, so no, it is not "shooting ones self in the foot" at all.
I think it is more likely a case of costing more to cancel the project than to continue with it.
What would be far more important is a census o all the people that are in Britain unofficially, not those of us that are tracked virtually every minute of every day.

The fact is that whilst a lot of the information is available in various places it is not in a form that the ONS can currently use or in some case even access, nor is it complete for the entire population, hence the need for at least another one census. It is my belief that during the next ten years a means of pulling together all the bits of info which may or may not yet be out there will be worked on.

The reason you shoot yourself in the foot by not co-operating is that like it or otherwise, the census data that is collected WILL be used as the main planning tool, not the data that 'They' allegedly have out there.

Unfortunately, the census can not be used to identify those here unofficially, even if we wanted it to, as personal information is not available to even the government for - in the case of the 2011 census - 100 years.

Look at the official website - there is a lot of useful info on there

mine arrived this morning (post office has till nxt wednesday to deliver them) so my friendly post man in formed me going to scan mine for my family records.....with added note of where my children are that dont live with me are ...any one got the 2001 census form ???
internet wasnt so good then lol

found one .....for 2001 ...what were you doing 29 th april

I am a nurse and work nights.
If I am working Sunday 27th march nights; I suppose that will mean more work for me. Am I right in thinking that all staff, patients and whoever is in the building will have to be on the form for the hospital AND on their home forms ?
Joan

Rita,

It used to be the case that you only appeared on one form, but that is not necessarily the case this year. The 'old' rule that you had to be present on the night to be counted at the address has changed rather.

Everyone has to appear on the census for the address where they are usually resident, i.e. their home, whether or not they are actually present on the night or not.

In addition, those away from home on the night will additionally appear as visitors for the address they are actually at.

Special arrangements apply for institutions, residential homes and university residences. Special Enumerators will deal with these establishments because of the added complexity in making sure all the residents have completed a return.

Other examples where you may have to fill in more than one return, irrespective of whether you were actually present or not are:-

Where you own or rent a second or holiday home

If you work away from home during the week and rent or own a flat or other accommodation.

my family and i are a way that weekend at a john fowlers hoilday camp..so we will be on the censes twice ?

No. You are only head counted the once, on the return for your main place of residence, but the fact that you are away from home has to be recorded on the john fowler's holiday camp return.