§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he has taken to ensure that the volunteers who helped distribute the Census 2001 forms have been adequately remunerated. [1738]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Miss Anne McIntosh, dated July 2001:
The Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what measures have been taken to ensure that the volunteers who distributed the 2001 Census forms have been adequately remunerated. I am replying in his absence. (1738)Most of the 70,000 Census field staff were paid for the work carried out by them under the terms of their contractual agreements with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in full and on time. However, there have been problems with making final payments which have lead to delays in settling claims for payments and other outstanding expenses.In the light of these difficulties ONS has written to Census District Managers explaining the situation, and individually to the field staff concerned, to apologise for the delay and to ensure that they are aware they can contact ONS directly. Arrangements to complete these payments as a matter of urgency are now in hand. ONS has made interim final payments to those affected and has introduced special pay runs to minimise any further delays in making payments. Extra staff have been drafted in to the payroll operation to make sure the remainder of the claims are processed as quickly as possible. All staff will be paid the amounts due to them.