The Government Statistical Service - UK Statistics Authority

the date of the 2011 Census will
be 27 March 2011 throughout the
UK, subject to the approval of the
relevant legislatures
the population base will be usual
residents plus visitors
a good degree of harmonisation has
also been achieved on topics and
questions, with agreement on 30 of
the 41 topics across the UK. Wording
for approximately 40 of the 50
questions has also been agreed, with
differences arising largely due to the
different context in each country. This
degree of harmonisation of questions
was made possible by the provision of
funding for a fourth page of questions
for individuals in England and Wales.
This funding was provided by each
of the main home government
departments
a common design has been agreed for
census questionnaires
a disclosure control policy has been
agreed by the National Statistician and
Registrars General. Methodological
research will continue in 2009, with a
final decision taken in the autumn
procurement of appropriate systems
and services is driven by the different
needs of the Census Offices. A single
contract with core elements and
variations for England and Wales and
Northern Ireland was awarded to
Lockheed Martin UK Ltd in August
2008 for key operational services.
A separate Scottish contract was
awarded to CACI (UK) Ltd in June
2008
a joint statement on output aims
has been agreed by the National
Statistician and Registrars General. A
UK output strategy is currently under
development and will be the subject of
wider consultation in autumn 2009
In order to support the process of
harmonisation, the UK Harmonisation
Committee with representation from the
UK Census Offices was formed in January
2009 and meets on a quarterly basis.
Detailed proposals covering the topics
to be included and the conduct of the
Census in England and Wales are included
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