The Census (Amendment) Act 2000 (2000 c. 24) and Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2000 (2000 asp 3) are acts of the Parliaments of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, respectively. They introduced a question on the religion of respondents to the censuses of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Motivation

The inclusion of a question on religion was recommended in a

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

of March 1999. Parliament has indicated that inclusion of a question on religion was to provide useful demographics information for six key areas, namely "discrimination and racial disadvantage, social exclusion, health and community care planning, religious education in schools, regeneration of the inner cities, and helping voluntary sector religious groups".

Legislation

England and Wales

The Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted the Census (Amendment) Act 2000 in order to provide for the asking of a question on religion in the census of England and Wales. Amendments were made to the original Bill by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

so that no person was to be subject to a penalty for refusing or neglecting to provide details in response to such a question.

Scotland

The Scottish Executive brought forward similar legislation, the Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2000. The Bill was originally introduced by

Jim Wallace James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, (born 25 August 1954) is a Scottish politician serving as a Liberal Democrat life peer in the British House of Lords since 2007 and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ...

and passed through the Parliament, receiving Royal Assent on 10 April 2000. which introduced similar provisions for the inclusion of a question on religion in the census of Scotland. The Scottish Act also provided that a person would not be penalised for failing or refusing to declare a religion on the census.

Northern Ireland

A similar amendment to census legislation was not required in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, as the

Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 The Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (1969 c. 8) was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which was passed on 24 June 1969. It enabled ministers to order a census of population in Northern Ireland at intervals of five years or more. T ...

already included provisions for the taking of particulars of religion. All censuses in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

have included a question on religion since 1861.

References

External links

* *
Image of the Act on the UK Parliamentary website
{{Census in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2000 Censuses in the United Kingdom Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales