MIND HOW YOU GO...

Managed to complete the on-line census form yesterday.  Now being the upright model citizen I am, steeped in abiding by conformity and doing what I`m told, I dutifully filled in the form as best I could.  I was aware of the fact that if you do not complete the census or if you provide `false information` then you can be fined anything up to £1,000, which seemed a bit harsh.

But in completing the census, it raised a few questions in my mind.  The information you give is supposed to be kept `secret` for 100 years, locked away in some inaccessible government crypt, so how will that `help inform decisions that shape your community?`  

Peter Benton, director of population and public policy operations at the Office of National Statistics,said: ‘The Census data is confidential. ‘We don’t pass it to Government, to the local authorities, to the immigration authorities; it stays locked away for 100 years – apart from the aggregate statistics that we produce."

The ONS says it aims to create a ‘detailed snapshot of our society’ to help the Government and local authorities plan and fund services such as roads, education and GP surgeries by using statistics pulled from the huge survey. Charities, hospitals, schools, universities, job centres and others also use the data to help improve their services.

But what is most concerning is the prospect that a number of people, either through mischievousness or  confusion, might not complete the questions as accurately as they might.  For example, there are voluntary questions about religion, sexual orientation and gender and it would have been tempting for me to have answered `Southampton Football Club` in answer to the first, `a distant memory` for the second and `Giraffe` for the third.

(I`ve always fancied being a giraffe, wandering through the Serengeti, munching away at high level leaves and generally leading a peaceful life.)

But this kind of response to the census questions might lead to the situation whereby all this planning and funding for services is based on largely the wrong information to begin with.  So perhaps I am right to fear for the validity of the process and the veracity of the policies that might result from this exercise?   Might have been worth the fine though.......