Have you had your census form in Chippenham? Fill it in to avoid a fine!

Census forms will be landing on doormats across Chippenham over the next few weeks after the 2011 Census campaign officially got underway on Tuesday when the first forms were posted.

According to the Census website, everyone should be included in the census - all people, households and overnight visitors.

It is used to help plan and fund services for your community - services like transport, education and health.

The 2011 Census includes questions about civil partnerships, second homes and when migrants arrived and intend to leave.

Householders must also name guests, including boyfriends and girlfriends who stay the night of March 27, Census Day, when the ‘snapshot’ of Britain will be taken to capture how and where we live in 2011.

Everyone is expected to fill out the 43-question survey, which covers areas ranging from health to fluency in English, type of central heating, how people travel to work, job titles, educational qualifications and work addresses and relationships.

Religion features as a question but isn’t compulsory – back in 2001 400,000 people said they were Jedi Knights.

Failure to fill in the forms could result in a. £1000 fine from the Office for National Statistics, which is responsible for managing the enormous task. For the first time ever the census forms are also available online.

If you’re wondering what the information is used for see below:

• Fire brigades, such as the London Fire Brigade, use census statistics to allocate resources and plan home fire safety visits

• Members of the public use census data to research their family trees using records that are over 100 years old

• Supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s, use census data to help plan what food to stock

• Banks, such as Barclay’s, and other commercial businesses use census data to help locate their businesses in appropriate places

• Water companies, such as Yorkshire Water, use census statistics to help plan the infrastructure for fresh and waste water pipes

• The police, such as London’s Metropolitan Police, use census statistics to help map out where their crime prevention efforts should be focused County councils, such as Hampshire County Council, use census statistics to help forecast the number of pupils who’ll be going to school

And it’s also interesting to look back and see how our country has changed/developed.

 

In 2001 there were 25.3 million men in England and Wales and 26.7 million women

• The most common age was 36 (834,652 people)

• The population owned over 23 million cars and vans

• Almost 1.5 million people worked 60 hours a week or more

• 8,560 people were aged 100 years or older I wonder what will have changed this time? What do you think about the census? Have you had yours?