The Census

[Windy]

ROFL _ I dont intend to get involved in any discussion - If they fill it in I will send it off. If not then I shan't lose any sleep.

As I presume I am not allowed to use physical force to make them fill it in it would seem logical that I can't be held responsible. (???)

[greenbarn]

it would seem logical that I can't be held responsible. (???)

What difference does that make? We're dealing with strange little people in government departments here........ the sort of people who are all Trekkies, but have no idea what Spock is on about.

[Windy]

Well you couldn't make it up really.

Just opened the envelopes to take the forms round to the guests accommodation, only to find that instead of sending proper forms they just send 4 continuation forms which are no use at all on their own as they are intended for use when you have more than 3 people in a house.

I guess they won't be getting their forms filled in this time then.

Why are govenment departments so sodding incompetent?

I just received a red threatening letter from the VAT people yesterday in spite of having made 3 phone calls and having sent two letters as requested over the previous 3 months relating to a very small error on a form that I am trying to correct in spite of their utter inability to do anything like administer a system properly.

When I ring up on Monday I know I will be told that "it's just the way the system works - we can't actually stop it sending out letters" because that's exactly what I was told two weeks ago when they sent the last one.

[KathyG]

Is there a time limit though? All it says on the site is "The questionnaire should be completed on, or as soon as possible after, Sunday 27 March 2011". We're in France till April 19th and don't have whatever reference number we need to fill it in online....... I suppose I could get a neighbour to pop in and find the ref no. for us though if it's really necessary.

[Ben McNevis]

I've got the Census Collector's manual and it says:

If you make contact with a householder who mentions that they have a second residence or holiday home elsewhere in England or Wales, in addition to their main residence, you should find out whether anyone was resident there on census night and whether they completed the questionnaire sent to that address. If so, they should have completed the household questions (H7 to H11) on the questionnaire and recorded themselves as a visitor by answering the visitor questions (V1 to V4). They should still have recorded themselves as a usual resident at their main address.

If nobody was present at the address on census night they should have completed the household questions (H7 to H11) on the questionnaire only the next time that they visited the address.

If this has not happened, and nobody will be visiting the address before the end of the follow-up operation, the householder can use the online help centre or the census helpline to request a replacement questionnaire for this second residence to be posted to their main address.

When this is received, they can complete the household questions (H7 to H11) on the questionnaire. The front page of the original questionnaire delivered to the second residence or holiday home, containing the internet access code and bar code, should be disposed of. The rest can then be recycled.

It doesn't quite work. Say 6 people arrive at the accommodation on 21 March, staying for 7 nights. On the 27th, they start completing the form and find there's only room for 3 sets of visitor details. They go to www.census.gov.uk to ask for a Continuation Questionnaire and it arrives after they have left. I guess, if they complete it online, they won't have that problem.

[greenbarn]

If that is a typically lucid example of the information they have to work with, I'd imagine the Census Collectors will be very grateful for blank sheets.