The Census Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 41) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. Providing for a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

for

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 ...

(or any subsidiary part of it), on a date to be fixed by

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

, it remains the primary legislation for the provision of the UK census in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

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 ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. A minimum of five years is required between censuses.

Parts of the Act

# Power to direct taking of census. # Duty of Registrar-General to carry out census, and provision for expenses. # Regulations with respect to proceedings for taking census. # Preparation of reports and abstracts. # Preparation of statistics in respect of periods between one census and another. # Provision with respect to local census. # Expenses of local authorities. # Penalties. # Application to Scotland. # Short title and extent.

Schedule

The Schedule to the Act lists the 'Matters in respect of which particulars may be required'. They are: # Names, sex, age. # Occupation, profession, trade or employment. # Nationality, birthplace, race, language. # Place of abode and character of dwelling. # Condition as to marriage, relation to head of family, issue born in marriage. # Any other matters with respect to which it is desirable to obtain statistical information with a view to ascertaining the social or civil condition of the population. Religion was added at 5A in the Schedule by the Census (Amendment) Act 2000 (c. 24) in England and Wales, and the Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2000 in Scotland. The 2000 amendment also added a clause in Section 8 of the 1920 Act to make the provision of religion optional: :''no person shall be liable to a penalty under subsection (1) for refusing or neglecting to state any particulars in respect of religion''

References

*''Oliver & Boyd's new Edinburgh almanac and national repository for the year 1921'', p. 228

External links

*
Census 2001 - Legislation and the role of Parliament
National Statistics United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1920 Censuses in the United Kingdom {{UK-statute-stub

Parts of the Act

Schedule

See also

References

External links