LOCAL MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has reminded West Somerset residents to complete their census returns later this month – he says the ten-yearly information gathering exercise is a vital tool for shaping government policy.

And, he said, people who believed the census didn’t apply to them, or refused to complete it because they felt it was intrusive, could be making it more difficult for future administrations to cater for the needs of the community.

Families are being asked to complete their returns on Sunday, March 21, with the ability to do so online making the entire survey of the country’s 66.5 million people a far more streamlined and simplified process.

But Mr Liddell-Grainger said it was impossible to over-emphasise its importance. “This is not the Government prying into people’s lives, it is about obtaining an accurate snapshot of the nation, an exercise in gathering raw data which can be fed into Government departments as they plan the way the country will be managed for the next decade and beyond,” he said.

“I know there are many who resent what they regard as an infringement of their privacy. But in essence it is collecting only the most fundamental information about households – and probably far less personal information than most people have been happy to share with banks, building societies, credit agencies and even retailers.

“Equally there are others who don’t believe it makes any difference whether or not they fill in a return. But the outcome of ignoring the census will be the Government receiving flawed information which could skew future policies and adversely affect individuals – and, of course, by the time that happens it will probably be too late to change anything.”

The census is organised by the Office of National Statistics which this year is aiming to get 75 per cent of returns completed online.

There will be three new questions for 2021, one of which asks if the respondent has ever served in the UK armed forces.

Two others are voluntary and are posed only to those 16 and over. One asks whether the respondent identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual or some other sexual orientation, and the other whether the respondent’s gender is different from the sex they were registered as at birth.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said the online option had been designed to make filling in the return as simple a process as possible.

“Each household will be sent a code to log in with and then it’s only a question of entering ‘Census 21’ and following the easy steps,” he said.

“It’s straightforward, it’s painless and it’s quickly completed – but it will provide the Government with information which will ultimately affect all our lives.”