To brief Cabinet on the support being given to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as it prepares for the national census on 27 March 2011.

The Leader advised Cabinet of the need to raise public awareness of the forthcoming Census and how essential it was to the authority for future funding from central government.

A Senior Research Officer presented the report to Cabinet and the following comments were made/questions raised:

• Herefordshire Council was working closely with the Office for National Statistics.
• Cabinet was reminded of the hand book that had been sent to all Councillors regarding the Census and Census day was 27 March 2011.
• Reminded Cabinet of the need for all Councillors to raise the issue in their ward as there would not be the same degree of national publicity as in previous years.
• There had been a 94% response for the last Census and it was hoped to increase the response rate as the authority could lose out in future government funding if the detail was not gathered through the Census - current funding is based on 2001 statistics.
• There would be door to door visits to all households that didn’t respond by post or online to gather the Census information.
• Currently there was a campaign to get Census collectors to carry out these visits for ONS – 100 needed for the county.
• Assistance would be provided for anyone with a language difficulty and posters would be available in different languages to raise awareness.

RESOLVED

                        THAT Cabinet:

a)      recognised the importance of supporting the Office for National Statistics to ensure the 2011 Census response is maximised in Herefordshire;

b)     noted the ongoing liaison activities; and

c)      encouraged all Members to use the information in the Office for National Statistics Councillor Handbook to help spread the work in their communities.