Introducing the 2011 Census
January 2010
CENSUS HISTORY
• A count (estimate) of the whole population
– every town, every village, every street
• Once a decade since 1801 (except 1941)
• Compulsory under the 1920 Census Act
WHY WE NEED A CENSUS
• Used to allocate resources
• For planning investment & services
• To support policy development and evaluation
• Provides a 10 year benchmark for all social
statistics
• Gives nationally consistent insights for small
areas and small population groups
AIMS OF THE CENSUS
What
• To produce high quality population estimates
• To meet user needs for new information
How
• To maintain overall response rate but improve rates in the
hardest to count areas and groups
• To improve quality assurance
and increase trust in results
• To produce flexible outputs
CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
Changes in society
- Ageing
- Increased migration
- Complex family structures
- Increased mobility
- Less compliance
Meeting the public’s expectations
- On line interaction
- Ensuring data security
and confidentiality
PROGRAMME STATUS - MILESTONES
May
Census Coverage Survey starts
August
Area Managers start work
March
Field staff recruitment starts
Oct 09 - Jan 10
Census Order ?
27 March, 2011
Data
Jun
Census Day processing
Nov
First delivery
of data First outputs
2012
starts
System Readiness testing starts
Septcontinues
2012
June2011 Processing
2010
Census Rehearsal
Addr. Checking Field Activity
Sep-09 - Dec-09
May - September
Census Regulations?
Jan - Feb
2011
Census Field Operation
Mar 11 - Jun 11
SECURITY & CONFIDENTIALITY
• Security & confidentiality are top priorities for census
• 200 year track record of census security
• Results only released after 100 years for family historians
• Confidentiality protected by law
• All census staff sign confidentiality declaration
• Census data does not leave UK
• Strict physical and IT security
• Independent security reviews to be carried out
QUESTIONNAIRE
• Front cover
• Includes internet access code
• Addressed to the householder
• Household questions
• 4 pages
• Individual questions
• 4 pages of questions for each individual
• Space for 6 individuals included
• Visitor page to record visitors on census day
• Link to rehearsal questionnaire
http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-censusquestionnaire-content/2009-rehearsal-questionnaire
KEY INDIVIDUAL QUESTION
CHANGES
• Migration (date of entry to UK, intention to stay)
• Second residences
• Languages
• National identity
• Citizenship
• New response categories of same sex civil
partnership, and step brother and sister
• Accommodation inc. number of bedrooms & type of central heating
• Questions not included: Income, sexual orientation, nature of disability
MIGRATION – NEW TOPICS
• Month and year of arrival into UK
• Identification of recent migrants
• Citizenship
• Identification of migrants
• Intended length of stay in UK
• Identification of short and long-term migrants
• Production of data on different population bases
ETHNICITY AND NATIONAL
IDENTITY
• Ethnic group
• Most requested topic
• Additional tick boxes included
• Very high demand, tough choices
• National identity
• New topic
• Complements ethnic group question
RELIGION AND LANGUAGE
• Religion
• Only voluntary question (as in 2001)
• Language
• New topic
• Main language and English language proficiency
• Welsh language proficiency
• Asked in Wales only
OPERATIONAL
IMPROVEMENTS FROM 2001
• Much improved address register development
• Address checking before census day
• Post-out and post-back of questionnaires
• Online completion
• Questionnaire tracking
• Intensive, targeted and
flexible follow up of non response
• Increased capacity for handling queries
Online and telephone help centres
THE CENSUS FIELD
OPERATION
120 Area Managers
1,800 Census Coordinators
25,000 Collectors
Plus hand delivery staff, special enumerators
Post Out
Address
Check
Postal
Collection
By hand
Internet
Communal
establishments
Communal
establishments
Special
enumerators
Special
enumerators
Enforcement
Follow up
Census
Coverage
Survey
Processing
INTERNET DATA COLLECTION
ADVERTISING
IMPROVING RESPONSE RATES
• Follow up targeted to non responding
households
• Special enumeration procedures for some
population groups (rough sleepers, Gypsies…)
• Hand delivery to 5% of addresses
• Range of accessible support materials
• Extensive language support in printed
materials and telephone help centre
• Communication campaigns for ethnic minority
groups and young people
• National and local engagement with community
groups
• Support from local authorities using local
expertise
LOCAL AUTHORITY
PARTNERSHIP
Local authority support vital to achieve high quality Census – a
shared aim of high quality population estimates
• Contribute to address register development
• Support the recruitment of field staff
• Local publicity
• Provide local accommodation / logistical support
• Provide local area information on hard to count groups etc
• Facilitate access to local community groups
• Provision of local information to support quality assurance
REHEARSAL
• Rehearsal October – December 2009
140,000 households in Lancaster, Anglesey and Newham
• Rehearsal of integration of operational systems and field
procedures
• Test of communication activities and elements of publicity
campaign
AIMS FOR 2011 OUTPUTS
• High quality statistics, easily accessible
• Online, flexible table generation
• Maps/graphs/visualisation
• 2001 vs 2011 Comparisons
• UK wide statistics
• Meet new EU Regulation for outputs
• Enabling user communities to build
their own “front ends”
OUTPUT STATEGY MILESTONES
User content
consultation concludes
Prototype
dissemination
system
2008
2009
Dissemination
systems built,
populated with
2001 data
Processing &
Quality
Assurance
2010
2011
Outputs
2012
Census Day
27.03.2011
Outputs
Front-end functionality
strategy signed
refinement
funding
off
proposals
drafted
2013
2014
KEY CONTACTS
Your Assistant Census Liaison Manager:
Tel:
Email:
Census media relations and editorial team:
Email: [email protected]