27.10.2008 Census Rehearsal Jobs for Lewis and Harris
Lewis and Harris are set to benefit from around 20 temporary jobs as the area takes part in the census rehearsal in March 2009, census regional manager, Donald Martin announced today.
Mr Martin and his deputy, census district manager Lorna Eller, will supervise two team leaders and 17 enumerators (census takers) in the distribution and collection of census questionnaires from more than 10,000 local households.
The rehearsal, on 29 March, aims to test the arrangements for Scotland’s next census set for 27 March 2011. It will offer householders the option to complete questionnaires online for the first time, and the online questionnaire can be completed in Gaelic or in English.
Mr Martin said: “This is an opportunity for Lewis and Harris to help shape Scotland’s next census. Returning a questionnaire on paper or online will help us check whether the census questions and the delivery and processing arrangements need to be refined before the Scotland-wide census in 2011.
“We particularly want to test arrangements for Gaelic speakers, including the option for householders to complete their questionnaire in Gaelic online. The next census will be the first since the Gaelic Language Act and we hope that there will be a big take up of the Gaelic online option.
“The census is a snapshot of the number and characteristics of people in Scotland on census day. Its results help the Scottish Government, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Western Isles Health Board to plan and fund our public services - health, education, transport - based on what we need.
“We want to build a reliable team of enumerators and we’re looking for candidates who enjoy helping people, because the work involves explaining to people why they should take part in the census rehearsal and answering any queries they may have. Gaelic speakers would be particularly suitable.
“Enumerators will be able to manage their own workloads and, although census posts are temporary, they carry a high level of responsibility. Everyone working with personal census details is security checked and must sign an undertaking that they will protect the privacy of the information on the questionnaires.”
Mr Martin, who was appointed to the regional manager post in August this year, added:
“I’ve worked in the Western Isles for many years both in local government and as Chief Executive of Comunn na Gaidhlig. Having been born, brought up and worked on the islands, I am very familiar with the area and the people. My role, although varied, will mainly involve recruiting, training and motivating a strong team and raising awareness of the census rehearsal within the local community.”
Mr Martin speaks about Gaelic in the upcoming Census rehearsal
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Notes to news editors
1. Every 10 years Scotland’s statisticians at the General Register Office for Scotland use the census to ask us about our circumstances – age, health, etc. The census is the only reliable measure of the entire population – every man, woman and child is included on census day.
2. Mr Martin will recruit his team in two phases starting with the two census team leaders - who are needed from 6 January to 1 May. That will be followed by the 17 enumerators from 2 March to 27 April. The pay and hours vary according to the posts. Further details will be available at the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).
3. Residents in west Edinburgh and Lewis and Harris will be the first in the UK to test the new online census questionnaire option when they take part in the rehearsal. Householders can choose the method that is most convenient to them: a paper or online questionnaire. Taking part in the rehearsal is voluntary, however participation is vitally important to ensure that the census itself is right in 2011.
4. The rehearsal questionnaire will be published later this year.
5. The 2001 Census found that more than 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2 per cent of the population) had some Gaelic language ability and that almost half of these people lived in Eilean Siar, Highland or Argyll & Bute. The census has asked people about their Gaelic ability since 1891.
For further information and arrangements for a photocall or filming at the Census Field Office in Lews Castle College contact Donald Martin on 07766160453.
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