NI 2001 CENSUS EVALUATION REPORT – LEGISLATION
INTRODUCTION
This paper describes the background to legislation necessary to
conduct the Census and reports how the legislation was enacted. In
so far as these activities are within the control of the Census
Office, the report also offers some lessons to be learned.
The report covers:
The White Paper;
The date of the Census;
Census Legislation;
Security and Confidentiality issues; and
Lessons learned.
The Legislation
Project also covers the administration of the Non-compliance policy.
A separate Evaluation Report will be produced later this year on
Non-Compliance work.
THE WHITE PAPER
The Government White Paper (The 2001 Census Of Population, Cm
4253), announcing the proposed date of the 2001 Census and
setting out the plans for the Census was presented to Parliament in
March 1999. It was published two years before the Census because the
Government believed that there should be time for public discussion
of proposals that would affect every person in the country.
The White Paper drew
on the extensive consultation process for data needs and set out the
Government’s proposals for the questions to be covered, together
with a background to the need for information. New questions on
religion in Great Britain (GB), general health and carers were
included. A revised question on ethnic group - a new question in Northern
Ireland (NI) - was included in their proposals. The Religion
question in Northern Ireland was also revised to include community
background.
The plans outlined
in the White Paper were subsequently incorporated in the Census
Rehearsal conducted in April 1999. The aims of the Rehearsal were to
ensure that the procedures for the delivery and return of the census
forms would be effective, and to test the processing systems.
DATE OF THE CENSUS
The date of the census directly affects the quality of the data
collected. The Census date has to be set so as to maximise the
number of households present, ensure minimum interruptions and
distractions to the delivery and collection rounds, and ensure
sufficient availability of field staff. It also affects the location
of people such as students, rough sleepers and those on holiday.
As the prime aim of
the Census was to ensure maximum coverage, the main holiday periods
had to be avoided. Although the Census does not have to take place
on a specific day of the week, a Sunday has traditionally been
chosen as the most likely time that people will be at home.
Data for mid-year
population estimates was planned to be provided by late summer 2002. The
later that Census day fell, the shorter the processing period would
be to ensure meeting this target.
Consultation with
users had indicated a strong preference for a term-time census to
ensure better coverage of students and more information on their
term-time accommodation. The Sundays between 12 March and 22 April
2001 were ruled out if Census day were to fall in term-time for most
schools, colleges and universities.
Daylight hours need
to be long enough for evening enumeration to be carried out in
reasonable light. The Census could therefore not be held during
British Standard Time, from end-October until the last weekend in
March. A further consideration was that Census Day should avoid the
Sunday either side of the local elections. In 2001, county council
elections in England were planned for Thursday 3 May, and local
council elections in Northern Ireland on Wednesday 16 May. No
elections were planned in Wales or Scotland.
The two possible
months that would be suitable for holding the 2001 Census were April
and May. Within this period, 29 April and 13 May stood above the
others as being the most suitable. In January 1996, the Census
Offices proposed that 29 April was the date that would have the
least overall disruptive effect on the coverage of the 2001 Census.
Consultations were
held on deferring the county council elections in England, but it
was decided at that time to make no change. In May 2001 the Government
announced that local elections in England and the General Election
would be held on 7 June following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth
disease. As a result the potential overlap of census and election
campaign activities was largely avoided.
CENSUS LEGISLATION
The Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
The statutory authority for taking a census of population in
Northern Ireland is the Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. This
legislation authorises that from time to time a census of population
shall be taken in Northern Ireland – but not more frequently than
every five years.
Prior
to the 1991 Census, the Act was amended by the Census
(Confidentiality) (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 to extend to
provisions to protect confidentiality with respect to the unlawful
disclosure of personal census information.
Separate
legislation – the Census Act 1920 - covers the census in England
and Wales and in Scotland.
The
matters in respect of which particulars may be required to be
provided are set out in the Schedule to the Act, as follows:
(1)
Name, sex, age;
(2) Occupation,
profession, trade or employment;
(3) Nationality,
birthplace, race, language;
(4) Place of abode and
character of dwelling;
(5) Condition as to marriage, relation to head of family,
issue;
(6) Education, professional and technical qualifications;
(7) Religion; and
(8) Any other matters with respect to which it is desirable to
obtain statistical information with a view to ascertaining the
social condition of the population.
The
Census Order (Northern Ireland) 2000
The
Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 gives powers for taking a census
in any year which is at least five years from the year of the previous
census. The Act empowers the making of an Order directing that a
Census be taken.
For
the 1981 and 1991 Censuses the powers were vested in the respective
Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and the relevant Orders
were laid before Parliament (Westminster) under paragraph 3(3) of
Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 1974.
With
the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, as part of the
Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998, power was devolved to the NI
Assembly and its Executive Committee of Ministers on 2 December
1999. As a result the powers for making a Census Order were
transferred jointly to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
of the NI Assembly Executive and plans were progressed whereby a
draft Census Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 was to be laid before the
Northern Ireland Assembly. This process would have involved
submission of the draft Census Order to the appropriate Departmental
Assembly Committee for consideration. However, on 11 February 2000
the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland suspended the Northern
Ireland Assembly and powers for making a Census Order reverted to
the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Thereafter, the Order
was prepared and progressed in keeping with the negative resolution
procedure through the Westminster Parliament.
On restoration of devolved powers to the Assembly, the DFP
Departmental Committee were kept informed of progress on the various
stages of the Census.
The
Order prescribes:
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The date on which
the Census is to be taken; |
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The persons with
respect to whom, and by whom, the returns are to be made; and |
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The particulars to
be stated in the returns. (The matters in respect of which
particulars may be required are set out in the Schedule to the Act). |
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The
Census Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 (SR 2000 No. 168) was
made by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 15 May 2000
and came into operation on 23 June 2000.
The Census Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000
To
enable the Census Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 to take effect, the
Department of Finance and Personnel is empowered by the Act to make
Regulations governing the detailed arrangements for the conduct of
the Census. The Census Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (SR
2000 No. 198) containing reduced
facsimile copies of the Census forms, were signed on 25 May 2000 by
a Senior Officer of the Department of Finance and Personnel on
behalf of that Department. The Regulations came into force on 26
June 2000.
Corresponding
Regulations came into force in Scotland on 15 May 2000 and in
England and Wales on 27 June 2000.
The
Regulations provided for:
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The appointment of
the temporary local field staff necessary for conducting the census; |
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The supply of
forms and other documents for census enumerators; |
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The arrangements
for the delivery of forms and the collection of completed returns,
including individual returns; |
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Certain
information to be provided by census enumerators and persons in
charge of communal establishments; |
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Follow-up action
by field staff in the case of non-response; |
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Further duties of
field staff; |
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Information to be
given to census field staff as necessary; and |
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The safe custody
of forms and documentation. |
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Changes from the 1991 Census legislation
Apart
from the inclusion of the new questions on location of rooms on more
than one floor, and regarding ethnic group, general
health, provision of unpaid personal care, time since last
employment, and size of employer's organisation, and revisions to
the questions on religion, qualifications and relationship to others
within the household, the main differences between the Census Order
(Northern Ireland) 2000 and that for the previous census were that:
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It made provision only for people who were resident, or who
were in full-time education, in Northern Ireland to be required to
be included in the returns; unlike the 1991 and earlier censuses,
there was no requirement for foreign visitors to be included;
visitors at an address in Northern Ireland but who were usually
resident at an address elsewhere in the United Kingdom were required
to
be included in the return made at their usual address; |
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Resident households who were entirely absent from their usual
address on Census night were required to complete a form on their
return to that address if this was within 6 months of Census day; |
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A return in respect of anyone sleeping rough could be made by
another person authorised to do so on his or her behalf; |
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All-visitor households present in holiday accommodation or at
a second residence on Census night were required to provide those
particulars with respect to the accommodation itself; and |
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Only some basic details were to be included in the return for
an address for any student or schoolchild who might have been
regarded as usually resident at that address but who had a different
term-time address. |
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The
Census Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 differed from those for
1991 in:
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The provision for the appointment of an additional level of
field officer – the census team leader; |
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The additional provision for the delivery of forms by post in
those circumstances where no appropriate or responsible person was
available to receive them and when it was not otherwise possible to
leave them at the premises; |
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The provision for the return of completed census forms via
the post in reply paid envelopes; |
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The provision that the duty to make a form of return would
not be discharged until such a form had been received by the Census
District Manager or other officer; this was to overcome the
possibility of false claims that forms had been posted back; and |
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Specific provision for the completion of duplicate census
forms in those circumstances where the original returns had not been
received. |
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STATUTORY
PROTECTION
The
security and confidentiality of the personal information that
a person supplies is protected by law. The provisions of
Section 7 of the Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, as
amended by the Census (Confidentiality) (Northern Ireland)
Order 1991 make it an offence for any person employed in
taking a census to disclose, without lawful authority,
personal census information. The penalty described by
the Act is, on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a
term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.
Other
legislation governs the preservation of public records and access to
them and the protection of personal information. Currently,
under the terms of the Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, census
records in Northern Ireland remain permanently closed.
However, consideration will be given to availing of a suitable
legislative opportunity to introduce similar provisions as those in
Great Britain. The
Data Protection Act 1998 has put into effect new provisions for the
regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals,
including the holding, use and disclosure of such information.
It updated the previous 1984 Act primarily by extending the
provisions to include manual records. The
freedom of Information Act 2000 has made provisions for the
disclosure of information held by public authorities. The Act
gives protection to the confidentiality of personal census
information by the provisions of Part II of the Act under which such
information is considered to be exempt information by virtue of
section 41 (being information provided in confidence) and section 44
covering the disclosure of such information that is specifically
prohibited by other legislation. The
legal requirement to complete a census form was confirmed as being
fully compatible with the provisions of the European Convention on
Human Rights as set out in the Human Rights Act 1998.
Article 8(2) of the Convention makes provision for a public
authority to interfere with a person's rights to privacy and respect
for family life if such an interference is authorised by law and is
for one of the permitted aims of the Article.
PUBLIC REACTION
Generally, the content of, and the arrangements
for, the 2001 Census in Northern Ireland worked well. The form of wording for
the ethnic group question in Northern Ireland was decided after consultation with users.
SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
The Government’s White Paper on the 2001
Census announced that the UK Census Offices would undertake a
review, or reviews, of the confidentiality and security arrangements
for the 2001 Census, similar to those undertaken prior to the 1981
and 1991 Censuses, and would publish the outcome of such reviews
before the Census.
The Registrars General for England and Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland jointly commissioned reviews from
independent experts to assess the arrangements to safeguard:
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the physical and IT security of the data collection
and processing operations (the Security Review); and |
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the statistical confidentiality of the published
output (the Statistical Confidentiality Review.) |
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LESSONS
LEARNED
The announcement of the Government’s
proposals for the Census must be made soon enough to allow discussion on those matters that affect the entire
population. The proposals normally follow a sustained period of
public consultation on topics and the testing of questions, and
consideration of business cases made by users, on the content of the
census.
Release of the 1991 White Paper almost three
years before the 1991 Census meant that proposals for any new
questions were conditional on the success of that question in the
1989 Census Test. The 2001 Census White Paper was published seven
months closer to the census date but some of its proposals were
subject to the outcome of the 1999 Census Rehearsal, so that the
questions on both income and ethnic group in were included
conditionally but the income question
proposals were subsequently withdrawn.
Census Act Northern (Ireland) 1969
The Evaluation Report on Non-Compliance will,
in due course, comment on the efficacy of the provisions of Section
7(2) of the Act to provide a suitable and workable legal framework
to deal with instances of both public non-compliance and
infringement of census confidentiality.
Secondary Legislation
The Census (Northern
Ireland) Order 2000
The deadline for
Parliamentary (or NI Assembly) approval of the Census Regulations is
the date by which the Registrar General must start appointing the
necessary local field staff – starting with the Census Area
Managers – at least 10 months prior to Census day. This in turn
requires the Census Order to have been made in good time before such
Regulations can themselves be laid.
For the NI 2001
Census, the deadline for the laying of the Census Order was met but
with little time to spare. Delays to the planned timetable were due,
in part, to the necessity to prepare two drafts of the Order and the
Regulations – one for laying in Westminster and the other for
laying before the Northern Ireland Assembly. There was a degree of uncertainty
surrounding the position of the NI Assembly at the time the
legislation was nearing completion.
Other delays mirrored what was happening in GB
where late changes in policy and question content required revisions
to the provisions of the NI Order.
The
Census Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000
The timing for the legislative approval of the regulations that put
into effect the arrangements for conducting the Census is dependent to a large extent on the completion of the Census
Order. Any delays to the Census Order necessarily impact on
the Census Regulations timetable.
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