The legal framework of the Census

Before 1920 each individual census required an Act of Parliament. The 1920 Census Act gave statutory authority to the Registrar General for England and Wales to conduct a census every ten years. However, each census still requires an Order to be laid before Parliament giving details of the date, the topics to be covered and the population to be covered in the census. In addition, the detailed arrangements for conducting the census have to be set out in Regulations which are laid before Parliament. If topics are planned for inclusion in a census that are not specified in the 1920 Census Act then the Act has to be amended and this requires special legislation. The legislative process for the 2001 Census began with a White Paper published in March 1999 that set out proposals for the content and conduct of the census. It ended with approval of a Census Order for England and Wales on 15 March 2000, amended in December 2000 to allow the inclusion of a religion question. A question on religion was proposed in the White Paper in March 1999 subject to a change to the Census Act, which did not then provide the lawful authority for such a question to be included in a census in Great Britain.

Following devolution in 1998, parallel legislative arrangements have to be made in Scotland as responsibility for census-taking now rests with the Scottish Parliament. In Northern Ireland, also, specific legislation is needed under the Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969. Authority for the census in Wales has not been devolved although the support of the Welsh Assembly is needed. This legislative framework has a major impact on the topics included in the census and the timetable for conducting a census.

Although participation in the census in the UK is a statutory requirement, the confidentiality of the information supplied by the public is protected by legislation. In Great Britain, the Census Act 1920, as amended by the Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991, and provisions set out in the Census Regulations lay down penalties for the unlawful disclosure of information from the census by anyone involved in taking a census. Separate legislation, the Census Confidentiality Northern Ireland Order 1991 applies in Northern Ireland.

It is unlawful for the Census Offices to pass any census information to other Government departments or any other organisation except for the purposes of the Census Act itself or the Public Records Act 1958. Under this latter legislation, the census returns are closed to public inspection for 100 years.

Last updated 25 October 2004