You asked
I would like to make the following Freedom of Information request:
Please provide any document relating to risk assessments of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2021 census, not limited to but including documents that:
Detail of how the coronavirus pandemic may result in the undercounting or overcounting of different groups
Possible statistical techniques for correcting such undercounting or overcounting, and their potential biases
Alternative data collection techniques in light of the coronavirus pandemic, and potential biases
Potential increases in costs for conducting the census
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request for information relating to risk assessments of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2021 census.
In order to ensure that we have fully answered your request, we would need to search across the email accounts of many staff members working on the census (including staff who have moved on to other business areas), as well as numerous business databases, files, shared drives and personal workspaces for any documents relating to risk assessments of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2021 census over the past year. The search would also need to encompass a wide range of possible search terms to ensure all relevant documents are found. The cost limit for replying to a Freedom of Information request is £600 or 24 hours work, and in our view we would need to exceed this with your request.
We would therefore request that you consider limiting the scope of your request to allow us to respond within the cost limit.
It would be helpful to limit your request to a particular topic or subject matter, or reducing the time limit of your request, which currently is open-ended.
We have, however, identified a number of published documents that relate to your enquiry. We hope these will be of use to you:
Office for National Statistics publications relating to your enquiry
Our plans for 2021 build upon lessons learned from previous censuses, the 2019 Rehearsal, best practice on statistical design and our research and testing. In the light of COVID-19, we have refined our plans to ensure that everyone can provide their information safely and securely. We have already started to print the Census questionnaires and our Census Engagement Managers are now in post. As we continue to deliver our plans with contingencies in place, we are now in a strong position and are confident of delivering an outstanding Census in 2021. On 1 October 2020, we published three articles on our preparations for Census 2021 and a summary overview. The articles are available here:
Operational planning response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) for Census 2021, England and Wales
2019 collection rehearsal evaluation report for Census 2021, England and Wales
We also published a report detailing how we have developed and tested additional guidance to support respondents in answering Census 2021 questions in the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Updates to Census 2021 online questionnaire guidance – coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacts - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
UK Statistics Authority https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/ also has papers relating your request :
Recent UK Statistics Authority papers discuss risk assessments with respect to COVID-19: https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publications-list/
The ONS also published these United Nations Statistics Division presentations relating to your enquiry:
UNSD census expert meeting Sept/Oct 2020:
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/meetings/2021/egm-covid19-census.cshtml
link to presentation:
UNECE census expert meeting Sept/Oct 2020:
https://unece.org/statistics/events/census2020
link to presentation:
http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.41/2020/mtg3/1_UK_Ghee_ENG.pdf