Households across South Gloucestershire will soon be asked to take part in Census 2021.
The census is a once-in-a-decade survey that gives us the most accurate 
estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941.
Census statistics can help businesses to understand customers and answer important decisions including, depending on the type of commercial activity: Where are the best places for new retail outlets? What products and services should be offered in stores? Where is the best place to advertise? Which areas and people should be surveyed?
Census statistics describe areas. This means that local small businesses can use free demographic information for market research. This helps to set up small businesses, to support advertising campaigns, and to work out where to provide new services, like childcare centres, to support the people who live locally.
So much of the value of Census 2021 is reflected in the worlds of Iain Bell, the Deputy National Statistician of ONS, “A successful census will ensure everyone from local government to charities can put services and funding in the places where they are most needed.”
Census 2021 will be the first run predominantly online, with households receiving a letter with a unique access code, allowing them to complete the questionnaire on their computers, phones or tablets. Census day will be on March 21 2021, but households across the country will receive letters with online codes allowing them to take part from early March.
The census will include questions about your sex, age, work, health, education, household size and ethnicity. And, for the first time, there will be a question asking people whether they have served in the armed forces, as well as voluntary questions for those aged 16 and over on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away securely for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.
For more information, visit: www.census.gov.uk