All households in Lavant should now have received a card in the post from Census 2021 and you will either have received a letter, or will do very shortly, which will mean that you can start to fill in the census form if you know who will be in your house on the night of Census Day 21 March, and I suspect most of us will. You can’t have missed the start of the national publicity campaign and that will continue over the next month or so.

Any doubt about who’ll be home, then complete it the day after or when you know. The letter gives you an access code if you want to fill it in online, which I think many of us will, but it will also tell you how to get a paper form, and how to access help if you need it. We’re also encouraging people to get help from friends and family to complete their census if they need to.

Later in the month you will see distinctively dressed census staff, with their i/d cards, on the streets. They have all been recruited now and are raring to go. Some are about to start, helping in properties where lots of people live. After Census Day and into April, others will be visiting households from which we’ve not received a completed census form. They’ll encourage people to fill in the census and help them to access further help if they need it.

In organising the teams, our main concern is the safety of the public and our staff. We want everyone to be safely counted during the census. To do this, we’re making sure that our plans are always in line with the latest government safety guidelines. As you can imagine, that means that they have been under constant review and been regularly tweaked. Our field officers will be working in the same way as a postal or food delivery visit. They will be wearing Personal Protective Equipment and will never need to enter your house.

If it’s safe and within government guidelines, we will also be opening Census Support Centres operated by West Sussex Libraries, if the regulations allow, to help people fill in their online questionnaire, or offer other support if that is not possible.

At the end of last year, some people asked me whether the census would go ahead and why now? We are all geared up and, equally importantly, the information it provides is incredibly important. The Office for National Statistics has used past census information to help us understand how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected people in different ways and respond accordingly. Census 2021 will give us fresh information to improve our understanding of the pandemic. Although the questions in the census have not been changed, the guidance about how to complete them in the light of the circumstances of how we are living and working through it has been updated. The results will help to make sure that the services you use meet the needs of our changing society. This could include hospitals, schools, universities and job centres.

John Heaton, the local Census Engagement Manager will be liaising very closely with the people on the ground, sharing his knowledge of the area and what he has learned from working with charities and local authorities ranging from West Sussex County Council to District, Borough and Parish Councils. If you know of any organisations which work with those in the community who may need additional help, do ask them to contact John through john.heaton37@field.census.gov.uk or for more information, visit census.gov.uk.

It could happen!

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