HC Deb 03 December 2001 vol 376 cc59-60W
Mr. Clifton-Brown

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects all 2001 Census forms to be(a) processed and (b) analysed. [19879]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated 30 November 2001: The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent question on when all 2001 Census forms are expected to be (a) processed and (b) analysed. I am replying in his absence (19879) The processing of the 2001 Census is being carried out in two main phases. Our main contractors Lockheed Martin are scheduled to capture, code and deliver data on an area-by-area basis over the period September 2001 to April 2002. On delivery to ONS, the data for each area is then subject to a complex set of 'downstream' computing and manual activities, which ultimately create a full and final database of Census records from which all national and local area Census outputs can be generated, and which is expected to be completed by the end of June 2002. The 2001 mid-year national and local authority population estimates based on the final Census area counts are scheduled to be published in August 2002, and the first key analyses from the census itself to be released by the end of December 2002. Further, more detailed, analyses will continue throughout 2003.