Census

Mr Steve Elibank
[FOI #63380 email]

Our Ref: FOI01093/Elibank

28th March 2011

Dear Mr Elibank

You have made a Freedom of Information submission on 25 February asking
for copies of various 2011 Census documentation.

The 2001 Census questionnaire is on the ONS website
[1]http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/...

Electronic copies of the 1981 and 1991 Census questionnaires are attached.

I am unable to provide you with information pertaining to the Census ID
cards. Release of this information would compromise the security of the
census operation by potentially enabling others to impersonate census
staff - which is a criminal offence. This is clearly prejudicial to the
effective conduct of public affairs and hence the exemption found in
S36(2)(c) is relevant. This decision has been reached by the ONS qualified
person, Jil Matheson, who has concluded that the balance of public
interest is best served by maintaining the security of census operations
and not exposing the public to unnecessary risk.

ONS has built the address register by matching and combining the best
parts of two national address products - the National Land and Property
Gazetteer (maintained by local government) and the Postcode Address File
(PAF) maintained by Royal Mail. The Intellectual Property Rights for the
Address Register are owned by Royal Mail (for the Postcode Address File)
and IDeA (for the National Land and Property Gazetteer). ONS has no
rights to grant access to this information which can be purchased direct
from these organisations. If you want access to these address products you
should contact the address providers.

ONS has been working closely with the organisation currently building the
National Address Gazetteer to ensure that the experience gained in
building the Census list is built upon - but no data obtained from PAF or
NLPG, nor data collected during the census field operation (which falls
under the Census Act) is being shared.
([2]http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsit...)

As release of address list information would prejudice the commercial
interests of Royal Mail and IDEA the exemption found in S43(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act applies. The public interest test is clearly
best served by ONS respecting the commercial rights and privileges of
these other organisation. Also as the information is also available to
you, even though this will incur a fee you should note that the absolute
exemption found in S21 of the Freedom of Information Act also applies.

You have the right to have this response to your freedom of information
request reviewed internally by an internal review process and, if you
remain unhappy with the decision, by the Information Commissioner. If you
would like to have the decision reviewed please write to Frank Nolan,
Office for National Statistics, Room 1127, Government Buildings, Cardiff
Road, Newport, Gwent, NP10 8XG.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Paul Wearn LLB (Hons)
Legal Services
Office for National Statistics

For the latest data on the economy and society consult National Statistics
at http://www.ons.gov.uk

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Legal Disclaimer : Any views expressed by the sender of this message are
not necessarily those of the Office for National Statistics

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/...
2. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsit...

[FOI #63380 email] To Paul Wearn/ONS@ONS
cc
13/04/2011 10:59 Subject Re: [RESTRICTED] -
Information Provided

Dear Mr Wearn,

FOI01093/Elibank

You claim to have attached documents to your email, but they are
not there. I have already asked for them twice. If I do not receive
them within 48hrs, a complaint will be lodged with the Information
Commissioner.

Steve Elibank

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