What steps were taken to improve coverage in the 2001 Census?

The perceived failings of the 1991 Census led to a major effort to improve coverage in 2001. This involved a number of changes in way the way the Census was carried out.

Initiatives to motivate and facilitate public participation

• 'Count Me In': a government media campaign to gain the awareness and the co-operation of the British public in census participation
• The community Liaison Programme: in which ONS gained the support of voluntary groups and organisations in helping to promote the census and providing help completing forms among the groups they represented e.g. the elderly, minority ethnic groups and the disabled
• Special arrangements for special population groups: procedures were developed to ensure inclusion of certain groups who might otherwise be missed or poorly counted e.g. the armed forces serving overseas, students, those in prison and the homeless. More detail is provided in ONS Factsheet 4 'Counting Everyone In, The Big Challenge' [Note: This link opens in a new window]

Changes in definitions

Two important definitional changes were made to address problems experienced in the 1991 Census:

1. Respondents were asked to complete forms for their normal place of residence - this helped to ensure that people were not double counted if they had more than one address, nor missed if they had no permanent address.

2. Students. In 1991 students were counted at their home address. The 2001 Census counts students at their normal term-time address.