The nation’s data? The UK census – guaranteed confidentiality but only limited information

Abstract

English In the UK, the census is one of the key resources for policy makers, determining planning and resource allocation at both the national and local level. Recent disputes between the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and a number of local authorities concerning the accuracy of the 2001 Census population counts have highlighted the importance of the census in funding allocation terms. Drawing on research into the 1991 and 2001 Census programmes and discussions with census users and commercial data providers, this article explores the complex relationship between the needs of policy makers and researchers and the issues of data access and confidentiality. The analysis is placed within the wider context of ongoing developments in both the public and commercial sectors with respect to data collection, storage and data release in and outside the UK. While consultation on the 2011 Census is ongoing, we argue that, in the context of the increasing demands for accurate data to inform evidence-based policy making and service provision, there is a pressing need for a more radical review of the current approaches to census content and census data access in the UK.