User and advisory groups

One of the ways in which the Office for National Statistics consults with census users is through a number of Census Advisory Groups that represent the interests of the main user communities. These currently cover:

  • central government departments

  • local authorities

  • the health service

  • the business sector and professional interests

  • the academic community

  • organisations with interests in special needs and minority populations

  • users in Wales

Meetings are usually held twice a year, often to coincide with particular developments or key events in census planning. The most recent round of meetings were held in spring 2009.

Three meetings are planned for late 2009. They are, a Diversity Awareness Group (DiAG) meeting, a meeting for the reformed Health Service Advisory Group (HSAG) and a combined meeting to cover all the other groups.

There are further groups managed by the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency to cover census users in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.