Letter for publication in response to an article on the Guardian website, 16 July 2012
Issue date: 18 July 2012
Type: Letter to the Press
Dear Sir,
You assert that the International Passenger Survey (IPS) is 'notoriously unreliable', 'too small' and 'does not sample randomly' (Census 2011: population rise due to dodgy data, Guardian website 16 July). This is incorrect: the IPS does indeed use a random sample, and surveys over 800,000 travellers a year. It has been subject to a thorough review as part of the cross-government Migration Statistics Improvement Programme and this has been seen as very successful by stakeholders and users.
Yours faithfully,
Ben Humberstone
Deputy Director, Head of Population Statistics
Office for National Statistics
Segensworth Road
Titchfield
Fareham
Hants
PO15 5RR
