The Census 2011

[[XAP]Bob]

I don't know what nationality my 3 month old thinks they are, nor how they consider their health...

[thirdcrank]

I'd be interested to hear of any organisation in the private sector making use of this info. I can see that from the POV of anybody in the public sector, its real value is that it's unimpeachable.

[Mick F]

We found a problem with the form!
Horrors!

We filled it in - like all good people should - and stuffed it into its envelope and sealed it. So far so good .......

Then what do you do with it?
Post it?

It won't fit in the post box!
We had to wait until the post office opened and hand it in over the counter.

All our local post boxes are of the small type that fit in walls or stand on posts, we don't have any large pillar boxes unless we go into Tavistock.

[Vorpal]

as we're discussing it may i bring this to the attention of aetheists ;

I am a staunch Jedi, and raising a household full of Jedi.

[Vorpal]

They seem to be collecting the informaiton that suits them. The istructions say to fill in the bit about commuting for people who worked in last week. That means that the majority of cyclists in my area aren't counted. Most are people who do seasonal work, or don't work at all. If they really want to know, shouldn't they ask about other types of work, school, or other journeys?

[Jonty]

There's been a populaton census every decade since 1801 with the exception of 1941 so they should get it right. I was an enumerator for the 1971 census and I recall the questions seemed mainly to do with housing amenities such as do you have an internal WC; a fixed internal bath; cold and hot running water and do you share a dwelling with another household?
jonty

[thirdcrank]

This afternoon I saw two people with shoulder bags emblazoned with a large "C" walking down the road. You can tell an area's tough when the census enforcers go around in pairs.

Anyway, I saw it reported the other day that some 7 million forms are still to be returned. Apparently there are some 29,000 people doing the follow up, effectively halved if they are all working in pairs. Should be just about complete by 2021,

[kwackers]

This afternoon I saw two people with shoulder bags emblazoned with a large "C" walking down the road. You can tell an area's tough when the census enforcers go around in pairs.

Anyway, I saw it reported the other day that some 7 million forms are still to be returned. Apparently there are some 29,000 people doing the follow up, effectively halved if they are all working in pairs. Should be just about complete by 2021,

I filled mine in today...

[alicej]

I filled mine in and they sent me a reminder letter anyway. Then when I phoned they said they had my form back. Suspect they're just sending letters to everyone.

[Erudin]

The Census police rang my doorbell a couple of times today, did not answer it but they left a card. Have filled the census form online now.

[al_yrpal]

They've sent my census form back!!
In answer to the question, 'Do you have any dependants?', I put, 'Asylum seekers, Travelling folk, smack heads, unemployable lazy sods, the cast of The Jeremy Kyle Show, Northern Rock, RBS and half of bloody Eastern Europe!'
...Apparently, this wasn't an acceptable answer.

[alicej]

They've sent my census form back!!

Hmm, I objected to Lockheed Martin and so obliterated every single barcode on the form and stapled it into a big concertina thing after I'd completed it. The theory being that someone would have to manually enter the info which takes longer and costs LM more than if they'd been able to process it by machine. They haven't sent mine back yet!

In answer to the question, 'Do you have any dependants?', I put, 'Asylum seekers, Travelling folk, smack heads, unemployable lazy sods, the cast of The Jeremy Kyle Show, Northern Rock, RBS and half of bloody Eastern Europe!'
...Apparently, this wasn't an acceptable answer.

Did you also put all children, sick people, people with disabilities, the elderly, and people unemployed through no fault of their own?

[al_yrpal]

Alice - joke?

Actually spend 39 hours a month working as an unpaid charity volunteer not filling in useless sad blogs that no-one reads like some here.

Al

[alicej]

Alice - joke?

Aw sorry, I've just been dealing with someone saying similar stuff NOT joking elsewhere, so I took you a bit literally there when I shouldn't have

Actually spend 39 hours a month working as an unpaid charity volunteer not filling in useless sad blogs that no-one reads like some here.

Al

Ah, they really are dependent on you then! The census form also completely fails to record all the people who depend on me for things (when I find time away from filling in my sad blog!).

It's a pity that the people going on about the "Big Society" don't understand the first thing about community - I've just spent two hours restoring a neighbour's internet connection, and am now going to finish fixing a friend's bike. I did put myself down as a carer (for my mum), but that doesn't begin to tell them about everyone else who depends on me, and who I depend on. My long-term relationship doesn't even register because we don't happen to live at the same address .