Peterborough residents begin receiving census questionnaires

Peterborough residents will begin receiving their 2011 Census questionnaires as part of the biggest mail-out operation in the country’s history from next week (Monday 7 March 2011).

The 2011 Census will break all records as 25 million household questionnaires - plus millions more from care homes, hotels, military bases and other communal establishments - will be processed at a 180,000 square foot secure facility in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester.

Paul Phillipson, executive director for operations at Peterborough City Council, said: “Every household must by law complete the census questionnaire giving information about everyone staying at that address on Sunday 27 March.

“It’s essential that everybody in Peterborough is counted correctly because we estimate each person is worth £600 in government funding for each of the next 10 years for things such as schools and health services.

“Census numbers will be totalled up to calculate how much government money will be allocated to Peterborough and personal information will be kept secret for 100 years.”

Census questionnaires should be returned as soon as possible after census day using a pre-paid envelope provided. Alternatively, for the first time this year, questionnaires can be completed online using a unique access code printed on the front of individual forms.

Around 10 days after census day, census collectors will start calling on homes to remind people who still need to return their questionnaires.

Royal Mail will transport completed census forms to the Trafford Park processing centre where they will be automatically opened ready for scanning and archiving so that after 100 years they can be released and looked at by family historians. Once scanned, they will be securely destroyed and recycled.

At peak times, around 300 people will classify and code information as it appears page by page covering topics such as occupation, ethnicity and religion. Compared with the first census, held in 1801 when there were only four job categories, the 2011 Census can cope with nearly 28,000 employment types.

Statisticians will then process the numbers to provide vital population estimates to decide public services for years to come. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data, there will be two follow-up surveys to check the quality of information provided on census returns and to establish how successful the census has been in reaching all households in England and Wales.