Census 2021

[Philip Benstead]

I have just applied for a job with the Census 2021, has anybody have done so?

Any comments about the question in the selection process?

[Oldjohnw]

Many years ago I worked for the Census Office on their general surveys. Come census time I was a regional manager. After retirement I did the foot soldier census. It was in a remote and rural area and was a hard slog.

I can’t really offer help for today as I worked there many years ago. It shouldn’t be hard to get the job but fitness, perseverance and flexibility will be fundamental. Don’t be embarrassed about their demand you use a script or role play in recruitment and training - many hate this but it is essential.

I imagine that a former major charity trustee will be a shoe in.

[Philip Benstead]

Many years ago I worked for the Census Office on their general surveys. Come census time I was a regional manager. After retirement I did the foot soldier census. It was in a remote and rural area and was a hard slog.

I can’t really offer help for today as I worked there many years ago. It shouldn’t be hard to get the job but fitness, perseverance and flexibility will be fundamental. Don’t be embarrassed about their demand you use a script or role play in recruitment and training - many hate this but it is essential.

I imagine that a former major charity trustee will be a shoe in.

I have been employed as census enumerated on 3 previous censuses. My first in 1981 time of the Brixton riots. I undertook a second round in Raiton Road the day after the riots. I got mentioned in the government report on the census. I am asused by the recruitment process.

[PH]

I've also applied, might be something different to do in the summer.
Last time round I was working for a company that handled some of the tech, looking after their laptops didn't seem to be a high priority for those on the ground.

[pwa]

I did it in 1991 and it involved an awful lot of leg work, which was quite enjoyable. I was living in a South Wales valley at the time and some of the homes I had to visit were remote farms up in the hills. I got to go inside a few and it showed me what a real farmhouse kitchen is like. Nothing like the sham co-ordinated kitsch affairs that some people imagine. More stone floors, mismatched cupboards and tables, and exposed pipes. And it's a great job for studying people, in all their variety.

[Ben@Forest]

I was living in a South Wales valley at the time and some of the homes I had to visit were remote farms up in the hills. I got to go inside a few and it showed me what a real farmhouse kitchen is like. Nothing like the sham co-ordinated kitsch affairs that some people imagine. More stone floors, mismatched cupboards and tables, and exposed pipes.

Very much part of my working life. Of course I have enjoyed expensive coffee in amazing £25,000 oak kitchens, but also been in estate offices which smell of gun oil and wet labrador, sat in front porches used as the farm office, provided advice at cluttered desks, strewn with paperwork and computers that are in the technological 'stone age'. But boots off, with a large mug of tea in a large, messy, kitchen, with a solid fuel Aga, grubby tiles and an insistent dog nosing at my hand has been a lot of my life. I hope it returns soon....

[thirdcrank]

Memory a bit vague here but I thought that one of the unexpected side-effects of the Poll Tax was a big reluctance in some quarters to be on the electoral register. Going on from that, I thought that that had compromised the last couple of censuses (censi?) I thought there was talk of the 2011 census being the last traditional census and that the future might involve more sampling rather than trying for a complete head-count.

Unless vaccination is rapidly successful very soon, any sort of traditional door-to-door activity seems unlikely this year.

Anybody who wants to see inside other people's houses need not worry: there are plenty of jobs which involve that on a daily basis.

[Jdsk]

Going on from that, I thought that that had compromised the last couple of censuses (censi?) I thought there was talk of the 2011 census being the last traditional census and that the future might involve more sampling rather than trying for a complete head-count.

"The National Statistician has recommended a predominantly online census in 2021 supplemented by the further use of administrative and survey data."
https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/beyond2011censustransformationprogramme/thecensusandfutureprovisionofpopulationstatisticsinenglandandwalesrecommendationfromthenationalstatisticianandchiefexecutiveoftheukstatisticsauthorityandthegovernmentsresponse

Jonathan

[cycle tramp]

So, falling from the letter box is morning was a bit of card all about the census 2021 and how the information provided was going to help improve public services and things....
....but I can't remember a single past government decision which the government has made based on previous census findings.... and what with global warming, the slow plastisation of planet earth and things like that shouldn't we really be thinking beyond the common denominator habits of our society anyway?
...Apparently this census is going to cost close to 1 billion pounds. That's alot. Think how many bicycle facilities which could be financed with that amount of money... or used to help the nhs.. or help out schools or something..

..which kinda makes me think that this whole census thing is a big fat waste of money...

[Jdsk]

....but I can't remember a single past government decision which the government has made based on previous census findings....

National and local planning routinely uses data from the census: healthcare, education, transport, sewage...

Jonathan

[pwa]

So, falling from the letter box is morning was a bit of card all about the census 2021 and how the information provided was going to help improve public services and things....
....but I can't remember a single past government decision which the government has made based on previous census findings.... and what with global warming, the slow plastisation of planet earth and things like that shouldn't we really be thinking beyond the common denominator habits of our society anyway?
...Apparently this census is going to cost close to 1 billion pounds. That's alot. Think how many bicycle facilities which could be financed with that amount of money... or used to help the nhs.. or help out schools or something..

..which kinda makes me think that this whole census thing is a big fat waste of money...

I have been privy to council matters that have used census figures to assist decision making, so yes, it is used for practical things. It allows councils to know the make-up of the population they serve, which ought to mean they serve them better.

[cycle tramp]

....but I can't remember a single past government decision which the government has made based on previous census findings....

National and local planning routinely uses data from the census: healthcare, education, transport, sewage...

Jonathan

Really. As far as I recall figures for new build properties can directly from central government, heavily influenced by the construction industries... when I worked in local transport no recourse was given to any census figures and many of the new roads were built as either part of new developments or as on going issues to ease current gridlock.... despite new developments in our area no new sewage works have been planned... health care and education remains underfunded as does adult social care so either the figures for the 2011 weren't understood or were ignored, so it doesn't look good for the 2021 census.
.. You're allowed two more swings

[cycle tramp]

I have been privy to council matters that have used census figures to assist decision making, so yes, it is used for practical things. It allows councils to know the make-up of the population they serve, which ought to mean they serve them better.

Oh right so this 1 billion pound census thing can be and has been routinely ignored then.... which brings me back to the point, shouldn't have we done something more practical with the money?

[Jdsk]

"How others use census data"
https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census/2011censusbenefits/howothersusecensusdata

Jonathan

[cycle tramp]

"How others use census data"
https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census/2011censusbenefits/howothersusecensusdata

Screenshot 2021-02-25 at 18.36.54.png
Jonathan

Any chance of an independent source? Of course the census site is going to say how wonderful it all is, they've just been bunged 907 million quid, they're not likely to say 'actually none gives a flying fig about the results' are they?