A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the census in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) is responsible for the census in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland.
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department formed in 2008 and which reports directly to Parliament. ONS is the UK Government's single largest statistical producer of independent statistics on the UK's economy and society, used to assist the planning and allocation of resources, policy-making and decision-making. ONS designs, manages and runs the census in England and Wales. In its capacity as the national statistics office for the United Kingdom, ONS also compiles and releases census tables for the United Kingdom when the data from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are complete.
In the run-up to the census both the main UK political parties expressed concerns about the increasing cost and the value for money of the census, and it was suggested that the 2011 census might be the last decennial census to be taken.
The first results from the 2011 census, age and sex, and occupied households estimates for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, were released on 16 July 2012. The first results for Scotland, and the first UK-wide results, were published on 17 December 2012. More detailed and specialised data were published from 2013.
Background
History
The Registrar General John Rickman conducted the first census of Great Britain's population, and was responsible for the ten-yearly reports published between 1801 and 1831. During the first 100 years of census-taking the population of England and Wales grew more than threefold, to around 32 million, and that of Scotland, where a separate census has been carried out since 1861, to about 4.5 million.
From 1911 onwards rapid social change, scientific breakthroughs, and major world events affected the structure of the population. A fire that destroyed census records in 1931, and the declaration of war in 1939, made the 1951 census hugely significant in recording 30 years of change over one of the most turbulent periods in British history.
The 1971 census was run by the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), a body formed by the merger of the General Register Office and Government Social Survey. In 1996 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was formed by merging the Central Statistical Office (CSO), OPCS and the statistics division of the Department of Employment; the first census it ran was in 2001. In 2008 the UK Statistics Authority was established as an independent body.
Purpose
A population census is a key instrument for assessing the needs of local communities. When related to other data sources such as housing or agricultural censuses, or sample surveys, the data becomes even more useful. Most countries of the world take censuses: the United Nations recommends that countries take a census at least once every ten years. Twenty-one out of 40 countries in Europe are engaged in the 2010–2011 census round
The design for the 2011 census reflected changes in society since 2001 and asked questions to help paint a detailed demographic picture of England and Wales, as it stood on census day, 27 March 2011.
Data collected by the census is used to provide statistical outputs which central government uses to plan and allocate local authority services funding, and which local authorities themselves use to identify and meet the needs of their local communities. Other organisations that use census data include healthcare organisations, community groups, researchers and businesses. The questionnaires, including people's personal information, are kept confidential for 100 years before being released to the public, providing an important source of information for historical, demographic and genealogy research.
2011 census for England and Wales
Operation
The 2011 census for England and Wales included around 25 million households. Questionnaires were posted out to all households, using a national address register compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with the help of local authorities through comparisons of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and the Royal Mail and Ordnance Survey national address products.
People could complete and submit their questionnaire online, or fill it in on paper and post it back in a pre-addressed envelope. Guidance was provided online and through the census helpline. Completed questionnaires were electronically tracked and field staff followed up with households that did not return a questionnaire. Special arrangements were made to count people living in communal establishments such as; boarding schools, prisons, military bases, hospitals, care homes, student halls of residence, hotels, royal apartments and embassies, as well as for particular communities; rough sleepers, travellers and those living on waterways. In these cases field staff delivered and collected questionnaires and, where needed, provided advice or assistance in completing the questionnaire.
There was a legal requirement to complete the 2011 census questionnaire, under the terms of the Census Act 1920. As at 27 March 2011 everyone who had lived or intended to live in the country for three months or more was required to complete a questionnaire. Failure to return a completed questionnaire could lead to a fine and criminal record.
Production
Lockheed Martin UK, the UK arm of US-based aerospace, defence, security, and technology company Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to provide services for the census comprising questionnaire printing, a customer contact centre and data capture and processing. The contract was valued at £150 million, approximately one third of the total £482 million census budget.
Concerns were raised during contract negotiations that the US PATRIOT Act could be used to force Lockheed Martin to reveal census data to US authorities. The Cabinet Office state that Lockheed Martin will "develop the systems" used to process census data, but that "in essence ... neither Lockheed Martin UK nor any Lockheed Martin employee will have access to personal Census data." The Office for National Statistics stated that no personal census information will ever leave the UK or be seen by any American-owned company.
Several groups called for a boycott of the census over the involvement of Lockheed Martin, including the Stop the War Coalition, and the Christian thinktank Ekklesia. The groups were concerned about sharing data with a company involved in surveillance and data processing for the CIA and FBI; and also providing funding to an arms company making nuclear missiles and cluster bombs. The Green Party also objected, and campaigned unsuccessfully to stop Lockheed Martin getting the contract, although no decision was made about whether or not to call for a boycott. The Census Alert campaign group also decided against calling for a boycott.
Liberal Conspiracy said a boycott would be counter-productive, as the census is used to distribute funding to local services. Liberal Conspiracy reports that a council may lose £22,000 over 10 years for each person who does not complete the census.
The census for England and Wales was trialled in 135,000 households in Lancaster, the London Borough of Newham and Anglesey on 11 October 2009. A test was also carried out in Birmingham at the same time. The questions for the 2011 census were the same as those trialled in the 2009 Census Rehearsal. The Order for the 2011 Census (including the proposed question topics, census date and who should complete the questionnaire) was laid before Parliament in October 2009 and was approved by Parliament and became law in December 2009.
Capita Group was contracted by ONS to recruit, train and administer the pay for the 35,000 temporary ONS workers who worked as field staff for the 2011 census.
Costs and value for money
The total cost of the 2011 census in England and Wales over the period from 2004/05 to 2015/16 is estimated to be £482 million. This is more than twice the £210m spent on the 2001 census. This breaks down to a cost of 87 pence per person, per year (over the life of the census – ten years). "The cost equates to about 87p a year per person, demonstrating excellent value for money. The per capita costs in the UK are less than for many other European countries that carry out similar censuses. In summary, this census will meet crucial requirements for statistical information that Government and others cannot do without." Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith).
Both the main UK political parties had expressed concerns about the rising costs and value of a ten-yearly census, and on coming into office the UK coalition government had gone as far as suggesting that the 2011 census might be the last of its kind. In July 2010 the UK government asked ONS to explore other methods of measuring the population. In 2011 the three national statistics bodies, ONS, GROS and NISRA set up a co-ordinated research project known as Beyond 2011. The objectives of the programme were to assess the feasibility of improving UK population statistics using integrated data sources to replace or complement existing approaches, and whether alternative data sources could provide the priority statistics on the characteristics of small populations typically provided by a census. The project reported its findings in March 2014 and recommended that a UK-wide census in 2021 should take place, and that better use should be made of other demographic data sources.
Changes from 2001 census
The general style of the questionnaire was similar to that of the 2001 census. A rehearsal questionnaire was released in 2009. Several new identity and status options were included for the first time. Other changes for 2011 included:
- An option to complete the form online.
- The 2011 census questionnaire included 56 questions in total.
- It asked immigrants their date of arrival and how long they intended to stay in the UK.
- This was the first census since the Civil Partnership Act 2004; the questionnaire included tick boxes for same-sex civil partnerships in relevant questions. The Equality and Human Rights Commission had called for a question to be included regarding respondents' sexual orientation. While the 2011 census does not ask about sexual orientation or identity, a question on sexual identity was introduced to all ONS social surveys in January 2009 to support the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.
- English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh national identity tick-box option has been included following criticism that English and Welsh were absent from 2001.
- A question about the number of bedrooms a household has, as well as the names, gender and birth dates of any overnight guests.
- A question asking how well a respondent could speak English.
- Unlike the 2001 census, there was no question on whether a resident has access to a bath or shower.
- The section on ethnicity was expanded to include a "Gypsy or Irish Traveller" tick-box under the "White" heading and an "Arab" tick-box under the "Other ethnic group" heading, whilst Chinese was merged into the "Asian British" category, which formerly only included South Asian ethnic groups.
- The questionnaire for the 2001 census only included usual residents. For the 2011 census it also included visitors staying in the UK on the night of 27 March 2011, census day.
In 2001 only 38 people were reported to have been prosecuted for refusing to complete a questionnaire. In 2011 those who refused to complete the census questionnaire or included false information could face a fine of up to £1,000. A team of compliance staff were recruited to follow up by visiting those householders who refused to complete a questionnaire or where their questionnaire was not returned or completed correctly.
Advertising
Advertising promoted the notion of how the UK 2011 census would help to shape Britain's future in areas such as healthcare and education. TV adverts, for example, depicted Origami, in census colours, forming objects including school computers and buses. A short sentence under the census logo informed the viewer that the census was a duty that must be undertaken. From 7 April 2011 advertising focused on reminding people to complete and return by post or submit online.
Controversy
A question about the number of bedrooms a household has, as well as the names, gender and birth dates of any overnight guests was criticised as "bedroom snooping" by the Conservative Party in opposition.
In a written answer in response to a question on population and the traditional enumeration methodology of the 2011 census, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: