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The Government would be wrong to scrap the 2021 census, a panel of MPs has warned. A report issued last week by the Commons' public administration select committee (PASC) agreed the 10-yearly population data exercise needs to change, but it is too early to make a decision on axing the census – which has been conducted since 1801. Chair of the PASC, Bernard Jenkin, said: ‘We think there should still be a census in 2021. ‘The Government should make far greater use of the data it already holds in order to improve population estimates.' Mr Jenkin urged the Government to address public concerns about data sharing and ensure the best could be made of the information already collected and held by the Government. ‘The Government's objective of "better, quicker information, more frequently and cheaper" depends upon it,' Mr Jenkin said. Last month, Sir Andrew Dilnot, who is chair of the UK Statistics Authority, published the results of an Office for National Statistics consultation on reforming the census, which recommended a hybrid approach from 2021. This would involve a modernised census following the digital by default strategy to encourage an increase in the number of online submissions from 17% in 2011 to 60% or higher, together with the reuse of administrative information, such as health, education and benefits data, collected from citizens by government agencies in the course of delivering public services. It also concluded there remained strong demand for detailed information about small areas and population sets from Whitehall, local authorities, businesses and academics. In giving evidence to the committee in February, Julie Whitworth, research and information manager at the Local Government Association said the administrative data option seemed a ‘really sensible way to go'. ‘Local government would really like more frequent data if that was possible,' she told MPs. But Ms Whitworth voiced concerns this method might make it difficult to get the ‘small, granular' estimates at a hyper-local level, which the traditional census provides. ‘We should not rush into it before we know it is good enough,' Ms Whitworth said. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: ‘We recognise the value of the census but Francis Maude has long said that it is outdated in its current form and could be more effectively and cheaply delivered. ‘No decisions have yet been made, however, about its future,' the spokesman added.

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MPs: Don't axe census

By Jonathan Werran | 25 April 2014

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