Census 2011: an army of enforcers

[gmb45]

The Census will be held on the 27th March 2011 and is set to be the biggest population survey undertaken in the UK.

A 100-STRONG army of census enforcers has been given police powers to gather criminal evidence against householders who fail to complete tomorrow?s national survey.

Anyone who repeatedly refuses to take part will face criminal prosecution and a fine of up to ?1,000 as the Office for National Statistics steps up efforts to catch evaders.

For the first time in the 210-year *history of the census, a unit of ?non-compliance? officers authorised to conduct interviews under caution will visit homes across the country.

More than one million people were missed during the last census in 2001, but only 38 were prosecuted. Glen Watson, the census director, promised better targeting of householders who had not filled in their forms.

From April 6, a force of 30,000 staff will begin visiting households that had not yet completed the census ?during the day, evenings, and at weekends to try and catch people in?, he said.

For those who repeatedly refused to take part, a unit of 100 ?non-compliance? staff had been recruited to gather evidence for potential prosecution.

?It?s a last resort but we expect to have to take action against some who are persistently refusing,? Mr Watson said.

?Ultimately, it is a fine and a criminal record.?
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Census 2011: an army of enforcers - Telegraph

[Grizz]

Wow, that sounds very big brother. wonder how the court system would hold out if it had a million non compliance cases in front of it. maybe they could give judicial powers to 100 people to sort it out. do these guys ever think before they threaten people?

[chroma]

ive not even opened mine! i cant remember where the hell i put it.
Looks like i'll be getting a visit

[Kalipo]

Ive also not even opened mine;. threw it somewhere. ill end up doing it online.. to save me going post office.. im lazy

[cablefreejunkie]

when i read the question that asks who will be staying in your house on the 27th march,it was at that moment i binned it in a fit of rage
who the ~~~~ do they think they are asking those sort of questions,didnt even read the rest

[super jumbe]

Answer to that is if by any chance you may be hiding Bin Laden you have to inform the Authorities.

[Snowy79]

If anyone has an issue with the Census make sure they put Paranoia down in the medical question. It's not as if there's any questions down there that would be too hard to find out about if they were bothered. Everyone moans about the illegal immigrants etc yet they act as if they want to be one.

All they are trying to do is get a rough idea of the general population and medical, schooling needs etc. I'm sure everyone would moan if the Government decided they could cut back on services and used the Census as an excuse. They already know who pays tax, rent to the council, who has a Doctor, who has children etc and I'm sure if you read the form or get someone to read it to you there are no questions that they couldn't get the answers to from alsewhere. They just want to make it a bit easier and have it all together.

As for calling it an Army. 100 people against a population of approx 62,000,000 must be a pretty shi@ Army.

[cablefreejunkie]

Answer to that is if by any chance you may be hiding Bin Laden you have to inform the Authorities.

they already have the answer to that question as its the authorities that have been hiding him away all this time,,you always need a phoney reason to keep fighting a never ending phoney war on terror

[Rodbouy]

All they will be getting from me is who is in my house and dates of birth. They can get tae fck if they think they are getting any other info.

[super jumbe]

Who ever wrote that census 2011, they must have been on hard drugs to come up with some diabolical questions mates, our Govt have not left us any choices you send them or else!

[cablefreejunkie]

NOCENSUSTAKINGPART.CO.UK

Have a good read,do you really trust lockheed martin with your data ? a proven criminal syndicate,i think not

[chroma]

If anyone has an issue with the Census make sure they put Paranoia down in the medical question. It's not as if there's any questions down there that would be too hard to find out about if they were bothered. Everyone moans about the illegal immigrants etc yet they act as if they want to be one.

All they are trying to do is get a rough idea of the general population and medical, schooling needs etc. I'm sure everyone would moan if the Government decided they could cut back on services and used the Census as an excuse. They already know who pays tax, rent to the council, who has a Doctor, who has children etc and I'm sure if you read the form or get someone to read it to you there are no questions that they couldn't get the answers to from alsewhere. They just want to make it a bit easier and have it all together.

As for calling it an Army. 100 people against a population of approx 62,000,000 must be a pretty shi@ Army.

There's one major caveat here.
Sure the government can already get the data (and routinely do) but this data they gather is BOUND BY UK DATA PROTECTION LAW this means that although they can collect all this information they cant, you know, sell it on to third parties like the US government, external companies and so forth.
The census provides plenty of loopholes to allow just this to take place. in effect by filling this junk in your giving your government carte blanche to sell your information to other people and thats what this really boils down to. not hospitals, schools or communal needs, they already have a very accurate view of this, they just cant legally sell that on to other companies

[Snowy79]

I must have received the wrong census form as mine only had questions that the answers could be found to very easily. Can someone please list ONE question that the Government couldn't get elsewhere that would be of use to an American Company.

[cablefreejunkie]

who will be staying in your house on the 27th march

[chroma]

I must have received the wrong census form as mine only had questions that the answers could be found to very easily. Can someone please list ONE question that the Government couldn't get elsewhere that would be of use to an American Company.

Better still explain the need for me to fill in a form giving my details up to a legal grey area when the government can already actively collate all these details in a far less intrusive and far safer manner?
The simple fact is there's no legitimately useful need for the census in the first place.

I understand that you feel comfortable winding up on a thousand unrestricted databases throughout the world, some of us are not.