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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 16 October 2009

Sense about censuses

• THE government’s test census on Sunday in which 135,000 homes across the United Kingdom were questioned appears to have escaped the scrutiny it deserves.
The rehearsal by the Office for National Statistics is critical to ensure the real thing in 2011 runs smoothly.
However, we remain deeply concerned that it could be a repeat of the one held in 2001 which was widely ridiculed as a £500million farce after it failed to include almost one million migrants in the final tally.
Indeed, despite repeated requests for clarity from the ONS we are still in the dark about some of the detail of the 2011 count.
For example, we do not yet know how many people each council will get to knock on doors during the 2011 census.
This doesn’t inspire confidence that the 2011 census will result in accurate population data which decide how much funding is allocated to local councils for the following decade.
Because of the inability to measure migration accurately my own council already loses £6million a year in grants in key areas such as social services, housing and education.
The 2011 census may seem a long way off but we are running out of time to get a count that works well.
If it does not we will continue down a path of confusion and miscalculation which ultimately deprive local residents of the resources they are owed.
Cllr Colin Barrow
Leader Westminster City Council

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
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Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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