29.03.2009 Edinburgh Resident is First to Complete a Scottish Census Questionnaire Online
The first person to complete a Scottish census questionnaire online was from Edinburgh, Scotland’s census organiser has revealed.
The online questionnaire was returned as part of a practice run which takes place, in west Edinburgh and Lewis and Harris, today (Sunday 29 March) ahead of the Scotland-wide census in 2011.
Questionnaires have been delivered to 50,000 households in the rehearsal areas. It is the first time people have had the option of completing the questions online in English or Gaelic.
Although the questionnaires are only due to be completed today, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) has already received around 300 online returns - two per cent of these are in Gaelic. Around 2,000 paper questionnaires have also been received.
West Edinburgh’s census regional manager David Stevenson said:
“Personal census details are kept confidential, just as they are in the census itself, so we can not reveal exactly which household made the first online return.
“However, it shows that someone was very quick to help Scotland’s census organiser, GROS, to check whether the questions and questionnaire delivery and processing arrangements need to be adjusted before the Scotland-wide census in 2011. It is great to know that someone in Edinburgh has taken their place in history.”
Census regional manager for Lewis and Harris Donald Martin said:
“The census rehearsal is the first time that people can complete their questionnaire in Gaelic so we hope as many people as possible will take up this online option.”
Registrar General Duncan Macniven said:
“We ask people to complete their questionnaires on, or as soon as possible after, Sunday 29 March so it is great that around 2,300 people have been enthusiastic enough to return their questionnaires already.
“We take the confidentiality of questionnaires very seriously so we have taken special care to protect online returns with robust security arrangements - the same proven technology that is used to keep online banking transactions secure for millions of people.
“Online returns is a major development for the next census and 2011 will mark 150 years of GROS’s responsibility for organising it here in Scotland.”
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