Council and democracy

Census 2001

The 2001 Census is the most comprehensive survey of the UK population. Although it was carried out on Sunday 29 April 2001, due to the scale and scope of the Census, publishing of the results began September 2002 and continued throughout 2003 and 2004 in a series of releases. For more recent population estimates see Mid Year Population Estimates elsewhere on hertsdirect.org.

Census results were published at several hierarchical geographic levels:

National and Sub-national levels - In England and Wales, the Census is planned and carried out by the Office for National Statistics. Elsewhere in the UK, responsibility lies with the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. There are slight variations in the way some questions are asked across these three areas however the most important questions are comparable across the UK and at sub-national level (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

Government Office Region level.

Local Authority (County, District and Unitary Councils) level.

Local Authority Ward level.

Output Area level - Output areas are the smallest geographic area at which detailed statistics will be available, comprising approximately 125 households. Outputs areas have been designed to fit within Ward and Civil Parish boundaries and will form the building blocks from which larger areas can be defined.

Census results were also published at the following non-hierarchical levels:

Parliamentary Constituency level.
Health Authority and Primary Care Trust area levels.
Civil Parish level.
Urban and Rural area level.
Postcode Sector level (subject to confidentiality thresholds).
Postcode level – Only head counts are available at this level.

Census results were published in several formats:

Population Estimates - Counts by gender and 5 year age groups at Local Authority level and above.

Key Statistics - Univariate tables on major topics at Output Area level and above.

Standard Tables - The most detailed multivariate tables, available at Ward level and above.

Census Area Statistics (CAS) - Multivariate tables available at Output Area level, similar to Standard Tables but with less detail to ensure anonymity.

Profiles – A number of standard templates available at Output Area level and above.

Headcounts - Just the total number of people (males/females) and number of households, available at postcode level.

Origin/Destination Matrices – Counts of where workers travel from and to for work and where migrants lived a year before the census and where they live at census day.