§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into the effectiveness of current methods of research used to collect data for the United Kingdom's census; and if he will make a statement. [127405]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 8 September 2003:
As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking about research into the effectiveness of the Census. (127405)Work is continuing within the Office for National Statistics (ONS), taking account of the evaluation of all aspects of the 2001 Census, to gain in particular, a better understanding of differences between the Census results and the previous mid-year population estimates. This research is wide ranging, including address-matching studies in Westminster and Manchester, a review of migration statistics and comparisons of census results with national and local administrative data sources.ONS recently published 'A demographic statistics service for the 21st century'. a wide ranging review of population statistics issues that set out the areas for development in the next decade.More specific research into the future of the census is also underway, considering the modifications that could be made to a traditional census, taking account of the lessons from the 2001 Census and the potential of new technologies. Alternatives to the traditional census approach are also being explored including: a rolling census, covering successive sections of the population each year; a sample census, only covering a percentage of the population; producing statistics from existing person-based data held by government for administrative purposes; or some combination of these. The first phase of this research will result in recommendations being published in late 2003.
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was in real terms of compiling data for the(a) 1981, (b) 1991 and (c) 2001 census. [127407]
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§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 8 September 2003:
As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the total cost was in real terms of compiling data for the (a) 1981, (b) 1991 and (c) 2001 Censuses (127407)The cost for the 2001 Census in England and Wales, is £207m over the life of the project (1993–94 to 2005–06). This cost includes amounts in respect of initial planning, development, for the funding of major tests in 1997 and the conduct of the Census Rehearsal in 1999. Costs also include scheduled contract payments, recruitment and training of all the field staff, the publicity campaign and those incurred in making any final adjustments, prior to live running, to procedures and systems following the Rehearsal.Compared to the previous Census in 1991. the 2001 Census incurred additional real costs to cope with increases in the number of households and the increased difficulty in contacting households in today's social conditions. There were also costs resulting from expanding the census outputs to meet more demanding user requirements. However, there were savings derived from the introduction of automation of many processes.The 2001 Census included the processing of 100% of responses to all questions, which was a major user requirement. This was not a viable option for the 1981 and 1991 Censuses using the technology available at the time, and for a number of questions only a 10 per cent sample of forms from these Censuses were processed. The cost of the 2001 Census also included the Census Coverage Survey as a key part of the methodology. This was a validation exercise on a much larger scale than the small post-enumeration surveys carried out in previous Censuses.