The future of the Census - CPC Director on BBC's Today programme

CPC Director, Professor Jane Falkingham, was interviewed on BBC R4's Today programme on 3 September, about the future of the Census in light of the Office for National Statistics' consultation: 'Options for the Future of the Census in England and Wales'.

Professor Falkingham stated: "[The Census] provides a unique snapshot of the UK population and its socioeconomic composition every ten years, and there's no other source of data that actually gives us that snapshot at that level of detail. In particular, the geographical level of detail... It's a very important source for local policy-makers, planners, local businesses..."

In response to questions on whether there are other ways of carrying out the Census, Professor Falkingham answered:

"The Office for National Statistics has just launched a consultation and they have a number of options on the table: one option is a continuation of what we've got; another is looking at models that other European countries operate. In France, they have a rolling census where they collect information on ten per cent of the population every year for ten years. In the United States, they have a short-form census which they collect every ten years, then they supplement this with a large-scale survey. This then gives timeliness, because I think there is a point that our society is changing really rapidly at the moment and maybe every ten years is too big a gap."

Listen to the full segment on the BBC R4 Today programme website (the segment starts at 02:46:42 and Professor Falkingham speaks at 02:47:48)

You can also read an article, 'Census consultation has option to replace 200-year-old survey', where Professor Falkingham is quoted, on the BBC News website.

For further information on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) consultation, 'Options for the Future of the Census in England and Wales', visit the ONS website.

Posted 03/09/2013 13:13