Coding of social grade of Household Reference Person (HRP)
(Updated 15.10.07)
An error has been identified in the coding of social grade of Household Reference Person (HRP). During processing an error in the coding of social grade was identified and a routine was applied to correct it. However, the social grade of the HRP was not updated with the routine to reflect this change.
The error only affects the social grade of HRPs, it does not affect Census figures that have been released for social grade of individuals in England and Wales.
The error affects 984 households in England and Wales. The social grade of HRP has been overstated in this small number of households, around 0.004 per cent of households across England and Wales.
The 984 households affected have been assigned to social grade group AB. 914 of these should be assigned to grade E, and the remainder should be assigned to group C.
The tables affected are:
Standard Tables, national to ward level, and health areas
S066 Sex and approximated social grade by age
S067 Age of Household Reference Person (HRP) and dependent children by approximated social grade
Census Area Statistics and Univariate tables, national to Output Area level, health areas, urban areas, and Parliamentary Constituencies
CAS 066 Sex and approximated social grade by age
CAS 067 Age of Household Reference Person (HRP) and dependent children by approximated social grade
UV50 Approximated social grade
Commissioned tables which contain information on social grade of HRP are also affected by the error. These tables contain a footnote to indicate the affect of the error. The tables affected are:
C0103 - Selected household characteristics by Household composition, Socio-economic group and Ethnic group
C0167 - Selected household characteristics by Household composition, Socio-economic group and Ethnic group
C0389 - Households by HRP's social grade; Persons by own social grade
C0420 - Approximated social grade
C0421 - Approximated social grade
C0424 - Approximated social grade
C0362 - Tenure by approximated Social grade
Various files
Details
In CSV versions of tables, geography codes 064 (England) and 09 (Bedfordshire) may appear as 64 and 9 respectively in some DATA files. Similarly, in DATA files for Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), codes of the form 5En (where n is a digit from 1 to 9) may appear as a number (5 x 10^n).
Comments
If this causes problems, users can edit affected files to insert the missing characters.
Ward boundaries in Milton Keynes and North Norfolk
Details
The main Census results were produced for wards legally in existence on 31 December 2002, in line with the National Statistics policy on boundary change and to meet a widespread requirement for statistics for up to date areas. However, final digital versions of boundaries for some of these wards were not available in time for use in the main Census output, and a number of differences between the draft and final boundaries occurred.
Most differences are minor, and only involve a small number of properties. In most cases the release of corrected statistics would breach disclosure protection rules, as there would be a risk of isolating small numbers of people by differencing two sets of statistics for overlapping areas. But in two local authorities, Milton Keynes and North Norfolk, the differences are large enough to mean that more accurate estimates of the Census Area Statistics (CAS) for four wards can be produced by assigning Output Areas to a different ward to that used in the standard census output, although this does not provide an exact fit to the correct boundaries. The wards affected are: Stony Stratford and Wolverton (Milton Keynes); and Lancaster North and Lancaster South (North Norfolk). Explanations of the differences were subsequently included in 'read me' files.
In Milton Keynes (00MG) the following OAs should be re-assigned from Stoney Stratford ward (00MGNW) to Wolverton ward (00MGNZ):
00MGNW0002
00MGNW0003
00MGNW0004
00MGNW0005
00MGNW0006
00MGNW0020
00MGNW0021
00MGNW0022
00MGNW0023
In North Norfolk (33UF) the following OA should be re-assigned from Lancaster South ward (33UFHD) to Lancaster North ward (33UFHC):
- 33UFHD0004
The full set of standard census results will not be re-run to reflect this alternative assignment of Output Areas. Corrected Standard Tables will not be produced for the wards affected to avoid risk of disclosure by differencing.
(Updated 28/01/05)
The release of tables for wards where boundaries have changed during 2003 has provided an opportunity to release corrected data for Milton Keynes and North Norfolk. This is included on the Key Statistics for 2004 wards in England and Wales. Corrected CAS tables are available for a small number of these wards as some boundary corrections enable new results to be published without risk of disclosing information about individuals.
Corrected CAS results are available for the following wards in Milton Keynes and Monmouthshire:
00MGNW Stony Stratford
00MGNZ Wolverton
00PPNT Castle
00PPPC Green Lane
00PPPQ Mill
00PPQC Severn
00PPQE The Elms
where the original constitutions were not based on the final correct ward boundaries. These results are available, on request, from Census Customer Services.
Unprocessed forms
Details
ONS have identified a small number of electoral wards (16) throughout the country for which a significant cluster of Census forms were not processed. There are 3,000 unprocessed forms in total covering an estimated 7,000 people across the whole of England and Wales.
The 16 local authorities affected are:
Halton; Kettering; Camden; Southwark; Croydon; Bromley; Lewisham; Barnet; Leeds; Manchester; Southampton; Gosport; Basingstoke and Deane; Swansea; Isle of Anglesey; and Ceredigion.
With one exception (Amlwch Port in Anglesey), the impact on any single local authority level count is less than 0.4 per cent and at electoral ward level it is less than 9 per cent. This is within the stated confidence limits already issued for the Census counts for these authorities.
The Census results for these areas will not be revised to take account of these unprocessed forms.
Economic activity and NS-SeC for people aged 65-74
An error in processing has resulted in under estimation of the numbers of economically inactive people aged 65 - 74 who had never worked in tables containing these data throughout England and Wales This also has a significant impact on tables containing NS-SeC figures derived from this economic activity information. The errors do not affect Census figures for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The error arose because a processing instruction which was applied to the data for people of all ages deemed that those aged 65-74 who did not supply information on occupation and industry had in fact done so. A response of "no" or no answer to the 'Have you ever worked' question was then changed to 'having ever worked'. In most cases this was the correct procedure, but it exaggerated the number 'having ever worked', more particularly for women than men.
The processing instruction was not applied to those people who did not respond to the 'Date of birth' question, and whose age was consequently imputed, and this resulted in the published tables showing a small number of economically inactive people aged 65-74 who have never worked.
Tables affected
Economic activity
The tables affected, all of which have been released, are:
Standard Tables (S) and Theme (T) tables from national to ward level
S041 Sex and economic activity and time since last worked by age
S139 Welsh speakers and economic activity and year last worked by age (Wales)
T05 Theme table on people aged 50 and over
T10 Theme table on resident, daytime and workplace population
Census Area Statistics (CAS) and Univariate (UV) tables from national to Output Area level
CAS041 Economic activity and time since last worked by age
CAST02 Theme table on people aged 50 and over
UV27 Time since last worked
Commissioned tables which contain information on economic activity may also be affected by the error.
NS-SeC
People who should have been classified as 'never worked' were included instead in the 'not classifiable for other reasons' category in one Key Statistics table, 13 Standard Tables, 10 Theme Tables, 14 CAS and Univariate tables, one parish Profile table, and one postcode sector Profile table which have all been released, and in two tables in the matrix of migration moves to be released later this year. Full list of the tables.
Commissioned tables which contain information on NS-SeC may also be affected by the error.
Estimate of the shortfall and advice on using the figures
Comparison with other sources suggests that the shortfall in the number of people aged 65 - 74 in England and Wales who had never worked is in the region of 150,000-200,000.
Users are advised either to restrict analyses of ever worked and NS-SeC to the economically active population and to economically inactive people aged under 65, or to combine the 'never worked' and 'not classifiable for other reasons' categories when analysing NS-SeC. The latter is the approach adopted by ONS in the production of commissioned tables, unless otherwise specified by the customer.
Correcting the individual records and retabulating previously published counts has been ruled out on practicality grounds. It would involve a complete rerun of the Census processing.
International migration
(Added 09.02.05)
The Census migration tables show around 370,000 people moving into England and Wales from outside the UK. In approximately 3,000 of these cases the response to the question on the form was incomplete and led to their inclusion in this figure. Closer inspection shows that they actually migrated within the UK and therefore should not have been included. [Migration tables showing breakdowns by country of origin are unaffected].
Norfolk Broads National Park
(Added 01.08.05)
Details
The population of a small part of Great Yarmouth has been inadvertently included in counts for the Norfolk Broads National Park that appear in the National report for England and Wales and in the Key Statistics for local authorities in England and Wales.
Comments
Publishing revised tables would incur a risk of disclosing information about individuals. A summary profile has therefore been prepared which provides information about the population that has been incorrectly included in the results. This profile shows the number of persons and households involved, and provides some further information on sex, age, health, travel, employment, living arrangements and tenure. The profile is available from Census Customer Services, and it is recommended that it is taken into account when using the published tables. ONS apologises for any inconvenience this may cause.