2021 Census Could be the Last Ever

The UK’s national statistician has revealed that the 2021 census could be the last one ever as cheaper alternatives to the once-a-decade compulsory questionnaire are being examined.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond said on Wednesday that he wants to explore whether he could collect the data usually recorded in the census from a range of other sources. These sources could include:

· GP Registrations

· Driving Licenses

· Council Tax Records

· Information gathered by surveys (The Ordnance survey etc.)

Sir Ian said he is “hopeful” that such administrative data combined with regular, large-scale population surveys could provide better information, replacing the census and making the process much cheaper. “Let’s see if we can get to a similar place, more quickly, using different strategies” he said “The census is frankly as good as it is possible to get”.

The government would have the final say on the future of this traditional information-gathering process after the census results have come through and once research has been evaluated, in 2023.

The cost of next year’s census could be close to £1 billion- almost double that of the 2011 census- even though most people are expected to fill in their forms online.

History of the Census

Britain’s census-taking roots can be traced back to the Doomsday Book in 1086, though it wasn’t until 1801 that the first official census was conducted (the population of England, Wales, and Scotland was only 9 million).

The fist census that statisticians consider to be akin to our modern­-day census was in 1841, it was from then on that the head of the household was required to fill in a form on behalf of all those living at the address at the time.

Due to UK privacy laws, 100 years must pass before the public access any census records. The 1921 census is the next to be released, in 2022.