Legislation
The legislative process necessary to undertake a Census in England and Wales is governed by the 1920 Census Act, as amended by the Census (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, and makes provision for a census to be taken no more frequently than every five years.
There are three stages to the parliamentary process:
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White Paper
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Census Order
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Census Regulations
White Paper
The 2011 Census of Population and Housing White Paper ' Helping to shape tomorrow '(Cm 7513) announcing the UK Statistics Authority's proposals for the 2011 Census in England and Wales, was presented to Parliament in a written Ministerial statement on 11 December 2008 and in bilingual format to the National Assembly for Wales by the Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery.
The White Paper details the extensive consultation undertaken to identify requirements for Census data and sets out the topics and questions proposed for inclusion. It also highlights changes in methodology, such as the delivery of questionnaires by post and the option to complete the questionnaire via the Internet. Data security and confidentiality are highlighted as top priorities in all of these plans.
Census Order
The Census Order, which sets out the details of the information to be to be collected from the 2011 Census questions, was laid before Parliament on 21 October and debated in a Commons committee on 30 November 2009 and in the House of Lords on 2 December 2009. The Order was approved by both Houses and was made by the Privy Council on 9 December.
Census Regulations
The Minister for the Cabinet Office will lay Census Regulations before Parliament, around mid February 2010. The Regulations will describe the delivery and collection methodology, prescribe the measures to ensure the security of the completed forms and confidentiality of the data in the field, and will include specimens of the questionnaires to be used. The Regulations are subject to the negative resolution procedure of both Houses. There will be separate Regulations for Wales which will be laid before the National Assembly for Wales.
Wider UK legislative process
Legislative responsibility for the censuses in Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved to the respective legislatures.
The responsibility for making Census Regulations with respect to the census in Wales now rests with Welsh ministers having been transferred from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the National Assembly for Wales in December 2006 by virtue of a Transfer of Functions Order (TFO), made under the provisions of the Government in Wales Act 1998. The TFO also makes provision for Welsh ministers to be consulted on the content of the Census Order. The regulations for Wales will follow the same timetable as those for England.
European Union (EU) legislation
The UK is an active participant in ongoing initiatives involved in advising the European Commission and developing EU legislation which will define the protocols involved with the timing, scope and harmonization of 2011 census-type outputs to be supplied to Eurostat by member states. More details about the regulations, their implementation, and the EU Task Force contributing to their development can be found in the link above.
