Census replacement consultation for England and Wales

From Ian Cope, Director of Population and Demography Directorate, Office of National Statistics:

I am writing to tell you that we are launching today, 23rd September 2013, a public consultation on The Census and future provision of population statistics in England and Wales.

You may be aware that our ‘Beyond 2011’ programme has been reviewing all of the options. Our research has resulted in a clear view that there are two possible approaches to census-taking in the future:

· a census once a decade - similar to the 2011 Census but primarily online; or
· a census using existing administrative data and compulsory annual surveys.

Both approaches would provide annual statistics about the size of the population, nationally and for local authorities, as we do currently. A census using existing data and annual surveys would provide statistics about population characteristics every year. An online census would provide more detailed statistics but only once a decade.

Different users will have different views on the approaches, depending on how they use the data, and we welcome views from anyone.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks to 13th December 2013. We have arranged a number of events to support the consultation, listed in the link below. You may wish to be represented. Please feel free to circulate this email to anyone who you think may have an interest.

You can find the consultation document and a link to the online questionnaire here.

I very much hope that you or your organisation will be able to respond, and we would be very happy to provide further information or to discuss any issues with you direct.

Please contact us at beyond2011@ons.gov.uk if you have any questions or wish to discuss further.

(With thanks to Beryl Evans of the Federation of Family History Societies)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.