Cycling UK Forum

Is everybody feeling so downtrodden that this will grind its way by - or over us - without a comment?

I see that last time, so many people forgot to return them that any value gained through completeness was lost. (It doesn't need to be 100% complete I hear somebody cry - in fact modern sampling would be just as good. Exactly.) I presume the handful of people who were prosecuted for this were those with the teemerity to stand up for their principles and made a point of telling the authorities to stick the form.

I can't see any value in it, in modern conditions. I had a quick look at the discussion on the BBC news website and there are reasons like it will enable people in 100 years to find out about their ancestors. Anybody who is bothered about that might consider starting some sort of family history with a lot more detail.

I think it's like having a series of memorial plates, cup final programmes or even York rally badges. It's the missing one which is the most significant. I'll guess that there has been no prime minister with the bottle to be remembered as the one who decided enough was enough.

Whilst I see it as another piece of officialdom sat there mithering to have me waste time on, Ms Kwackers was made up, apparently she 'likes' to be counted!

Filled mine in last night. It took all of 12 minutes - 5 mins to read it through, 5 mins to fill in the relevant bits, and 2 mins to walk to the post box.

I still don't see what my renting a 2 bed house with no van or car has got to do with "them".

I don't see any harm in it per se - if people are making policy then doing it with good information is clearly a good idea - but "good information" is key here and I do wonder what value it adds (bearing in mind its significant cost) over and above existing data such as electoral records, passport records and tax returns.

The additional information seems to be how you perceive your health, whether you see yourself as British or English/etc, and a bit about your work.

It seems poorly constructed to provide ideal policymaking fodder, too. For instance, I replied that I commute mainly by car - the fact that I'd love to use the train and bike more often but the train costs twice as much goes unrecorded. One cynically assumes that the conclusion will be "95% of people commute by car therefore we need to create policy which supports car users" rather than "95% of people commute by car therefore we'd better make the trains cheaper and improve bus connections".

To my mind it seems far better to have an online government portal where people could give this information and also update their opinions and statuses on various topics. Once set up it would (should) cost relatively little to maintain and would be far more versatile, far more current - better in just about every way, provided you could address the issue of reaching people who don't have any Internets.

The main product of the census now seems to be a few column inches on how many people in the country are so hilariously witty that they've decided to pretend their religion is Jedi.

Can you do it online this time around?

Redvee wrote:Can you do it online this time around?

Yes, did it last night. Like most online government forms it makes it a bit simpler as it only gives you the relevant bits of form instead of relying on you following lots of "If you said yes to question 94 then go to section 827" directions.

The government's online forms may be brilliant, but their IT seems to be universally useless. One hand rarely knows what all its own fingers are doing and generally seems quite unaware of the existance of any other hands.

I've never been asked to fill in anything to do with the census.

Nor to vote in a general election, though I did once have a man from a council knocking on the door, wanting some information for the electoral roll - so I gave him some, though I think it was my personal info he was after.

Anyone else remember "Census parties"

A lot of the questions used to refer to where you were, what you were doing at the time of the census.

We used to do things like have a party so that the house had 30 occupants, or camped in a field one year and gave the address of the local pub another.

Shame they changed the questions, but I am sure there will still be a few little tricks.

I was talking about this with a colleague over lunch.
There's nothing in it that's contentious to me. But I am curious as to what they ask, and what's left out. e.g
Why do they want to know about visitors on a specific night
I see that all of the sexual orientations are covered in relationships.
I wonder how many will put Jedi Knight as their religion, or Klingon as their first language.
Will someone put 'Citizen of the world' as nationality.
If we start by assuming that it is about planning for social growth, then they want to know where we are, what resources we use and so on.
So why not ask about disabilities - dropped kerbs, good street lighting, user friendly buildings, public toilets, accessible buses etc.
Neither do they ask what civic ameanities do we use. e.g. Library, sports clubs, colleges.
They ask if I have a car, but not where I put it.

All very strange

And then I wonder how many 'MI6 covert operatives' will just put 'accountant' or civil servant' as their job, but no doubt the employers of such people have already provided for that one, hav'nt you 'M'?

H14 In total, how many cars or vans are owned, or available for use, by members of this household?
• None
•1
•2
•3
•4 or more, write in number

What does available mean?

My MiL theoretically has 5 at her beck and call...........

Read the form, its about who is at your address on 27th March or ASAP afterwards.

Al

al_yrpal wrote:Read the form, its about who is at your address on 27th March or ASAP afterwards.

Al

Yeh, but Jedi's can control outcomes

squeaker wrote:

al_yrpal wrote:Read the form, its about who is at your address on 27th March or ASAP afterwards.

Al

Yeh, but Jedi's can control outcomes

Ahh, the form, read it you must !

ferrit worrier wrote:

squeaker wrote:

al_yrpal wrote:Read the form, its about who is at your address on 27th March or ASAP afterwards.

Al

Yeh, but Jedi's can control outcomes

Ahh, the form, read it you must !

There is no read, only fill - that is why you fail...