Subject
Census
Prosecutions
Request
Response
I am putting together my defence in my
case of refusing to fill in the census form
2011. Contrary to the Census Act of 1920.
Therefore, I would appreciate a fairly
swift response to my questions below:
ONS is still processing the data collected from the returns
in the 2011 Census in England and Wales. Until this and
the analysis of the results of the Census Coverage Survey
are completed, ONS will not be able to make an estimate
of the numbers of residential addresses in England and
Wales, Gloucestershire, and Stroud from which a return
1. How many people failed to submit a
was not received. Information on levels of non-response
completed census form in the UK & how in these areas will be published with the first release of
many are to be prosecuted?
results from the 2011 Census later this summer. Similar
2. How many people failed to submit a
information in respect of the censuses in Scotland and
completed census form in Gloucestershire Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the National
County & how many are to be
Records Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and
prosecuted?
Research Agency respectively, and will be made available
3. How many people failed to submit a
by them in due course.
completed census form in the District of
Stroud Glos. & how many are to be
Prosecutions for non-compliance are still in progress and
prosecuted?
will not be completed for some months yet. As at 28
4. Please set out the criteria used when February there have been 12 prosecutions in
making a decision on prosecution of an
Gloucestershire which have been completed, of which 3
individual. Please supply any
were in Stroud district.
documents/memoranda/e-mails in the
possession of the ONS which relates to
It may be useful, given the nature of some of your
such criteria & decisions. ( I do not seek questions to provide some context to the field operation
information on individuals but only on
for the 2011 Census. Over three million reminder letters
policy documents).
were sent out in several tranches soon after Census Day,
5. Please supply copies of any guidance
and almost 30,000 field staff were employed to follow-up
given to ONS officers involved in follow- those addresses from which a census questionnaire had
up visits to people who had not
not been recorded as being received. Field staff were
completed a census return. In particular encouraged to visit those addresses where no
any guidance on how such visits were
questionnaire had been received as many times as they
chosen & individuals targeted.
could and at varying times of day in order to maximise the
likelihood of contact with the householder and thus
secure a return. If, however, during such a visit, field staff
received a refusal to complete the questionnaire, they
created a refusal report form and the information was
passed to the non-compliance team.
The non-compliance investigation was undertaken by
specially trained Non-Compliance Officers who conducted
formal Interviews under Caution as required by the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act. Throughout England and Wales
over 12,000 cases of refusal were visited by NonCompliance Officers. Of those contacted, several
thousand subsequently completed a questionnaire. Cases
were then selected for referral to the Crown Prosecution
Service based on the availability of robust evidence of a
persistent refusal. However, at any stage during the
prosecution proceedings prior to a conviction, if the
householder chooses to make a return, such proceedings
are then suspended.
Advice and guidance on how to follow-up non-response
and to conduct interviews under caution were set out in
field manuals issued to each field officer. Such
instructions, together with the specific criteria adopted to
decide on those cases to refer to the Crown Prosecution
Service are, however, exempt from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act by virtue of sections 30(1)
and 31(1), being information that would be prejudicial to
law enforcement.
Census Coverage Can you please confirm or deny in 2001,
Survey
the ONS had to "impute"
information for 6.1 per cent of
households who failed to fill in the forms
- more than 1.5million families, as
reported in (among many others) the
Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic
s/7043822/Households-face-1000-finesfrom-officials-with-police-powers-if-theyrefuse-to-fill-in-their-census-forms.html.
If this is correct, how is this supposed to
represent an 'accurate' demographic of
the nation?
As it is an 'offence' to falsify or give false
information on the form, how is it
justified to 'impute' information, that is
inaccurate, and false by the ONS? Every
family is different, you
cannot base answers left blank based on
what the neighbours have put in, as one
household has very different needs from
their neighbours.
In response to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act, I write to advise that the strategy
adopted in the 2001 Census was that, in order to meet the
requirements of users for a complete and consistent set of
census results that represented the whole population, the
enumerated counts were adjusted to take account of:
(a)
missed data items that related to persons
recorded in the census;
(b)
the numbers and characteristics of persons
missed in resident households that were recorded in the
census; and
(c)
the number and characteristics of persons in
households that were missed in the census.
Such adjusted data took account of information collected
in a separate Census Coverage Survey, and by comparing
these with the data collected in the Census itself. The
methods of imputation used to derive the adjusted data
adopted standard statistical methodology which had been
shown to provide accurate estimates. The underlying
methodology has been published on the ONS website.
The value of the resulting statistics are thus much
enhanced in comparison with outputs where ‘not stated’
counts are included. As a result, all users were able to
Who are these people 'imputing'
analyse the same results and draw similar or comparable
information? Are they and the ONS above conclusions. This had not been possible in previous
the law? Are they allowed to 'impute'
censuses when users themselves had to estimate the
information because the ONS can't be
numbers and characteristics of people and households not
bothered to chase up the correct
enumerated
information themselves?
What data do these people have in front The application of different levels of imputation, with the
of them? What is done to protect the
aim of improving the utility of the statistics, is now
data and privacy of the person who has adopted by many countries conducting field enumeration
already filled the form?
censuses, and is, as far as England and Wales is concerned,
provided for by the provisions of the Census Act 1920
under which the Census is lawfully carried out.
Details of the level of item imputation and record
imputation in the 2001 Census (from which the Daily
Telegraph may have obtained their figures) were
published in 2001 Census of England and Wales Quality
Report in 2005. This reported that the proportion of
people missed in the Census was estimated to be six per
cent, comprising four per cent in households that were
enumerated and two per cent in households that were
missed. The same report also recorded that some six per
cent of households were imputed.
The quality report also describes the particular method of
imputation adopted.
Imputation has been carried out only by members of ONS
staff.
All personal data provided in the census is kept secure for
100 years. It is unlawful, under the provisions of the
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 for ONS, or
anyone employed by ONS, to disclose any personal census
information.
Census
Prosecutions
1. How many census forms were filled in
online before 27th March 2011? It is very
well documented across the internet that
many many people filled out their forms
early for convenience.
2. Confirm how many postal replies were
received before 27th March 2011?
3. Were the forms that were filled in early
counted towards the census totals after
the 27th of March 2011, or were they
invalidated because of their early
response?
4. Technically, filling in the Census form
early is a criminal offence under section 8
of the Census Act 1920, so how many
prosecutions are being pursued for filling
in the census form early?
I write in response to your second recent request under
the Freedom of Information Act.
1 ONS received 1.2 million Census household returns
online before 27 March 2011.
2 ONS received 5.4 million Census household returns on
paper questionnaires before 27 March 2011.
3 All completed returns received before 27 March were
processed.
4/5 ONS put in place arrangements to accept
questionnaires completed before Census day so as to
allow respondents as much flexibility as possible as to
when they responded. This was to cater for those who
may have had difficulty in completing a questionnaire
after Census day, if, for example, they expected to be
away from home. Accepting questionnaires completed on
or in advance of Census day also helped to spread the load
on the postal services and at the census processing centre
of many millions of questionnaires all being returned at
the same time. It is important to note however, that while
ONS accepted questionnaires completed before 27 March
2011, it was made clear at the time that if people
completed the questionnaire prior to Census day, the
information that they provided should have referred to
Census day. ONS is satisfied that this approach was not
prevented by the provisions of section 8 of the Census Act
1920.
5. As there doesn't appear to be in the
regulations or the act any power for the
ONS to disapply these provisions or vary
when the census returns may be made,
why were the ONS advising (on their own
website) that the online forms could be
filled in from the 4th March 2011, thus
Regulation 10 of the Census (England) Regulations 2010,
effectively encouraging citizens
states that those people responsible for completing a
unknowingly break the law?
questionnaire must do so “on the day after Census day or
as soon after that as is reasonably practicable”. This
prescribed the date and the period on, and by which, the
2011 Census returns were to be made. ONS received legal
advice to the effect that completing and returning the
census questionnaire on or before the Census day was
not, of itself, a contravention of those Regulations. Since
the only offence that could have been committed with
respect to an infringement of Regulation 10 would have
related to the failure or refusal to make a return, a person
who properly completed and returned their census
questionnaire before the Census day did not commit any
offence for which they could have been prosecuted.
Business
Demography
1. The number of small and medium sized Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births and
businesses that died or went bankrupt in deaths within a year are available from the ONS release on
2011. How these figures compared with Business Demography.
the previous year.
Unfortunately this data is only available up to the year
2. The number of small business that
2010. The 2011 results are due to be published in
were created in 2011 and also in the last December 2012 therefore section 22 of the Freedom of
quarter to coincide with the latest Labour Information Act applies. Section 22 exempts information
Market Statistics published today
requested by an applicant if it is intended for future
February 15th 2012.
publication.
3. Which region saw the most businesses
created and which saw the most business
deaths.
Labour Markets I am writing to find out the current
The estimates you have requested are already published
unemployment rates for the North
on the ONS website.
East,especially amongst under 25's and
Unemployment by sex for the North East.
also men and women.
Unemployment by age for the North East
These estimates are derived from the same data source as
the headline figures and are not seasonally adjusted, but
due to the relatively small samples sizes and subsequent
sampling variability, the figures should be used with
caution and are designated as Experimental Statistics.
I would be grateful if you could supply me The ONS does not hold all the information you requested
with the following information in tabular on crime and ethnicity. ONS only holds information about
version (csv) victims of crime. However, this information may be
available from the Ministry of Justice who can be
1. Population of Blacks,Whites,Asian in contacted at: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk
every UK City (2011)
Please find attached information from the Annual
Population Survey.
2. The amount of people (by race) in
employment.
3. The amount of people (by race) with
criminal records of recorded conviction
4. Ethnic origin (by race, i.e country of
birth