07.10.2010 Recruitment begins for more than 6,000 census staff
The 22 men and women responsible for the regional management of Scotland’s 2011 Census have taken up their posts and one of their first tasks is to recruit more than 6,000 temporary staff to support the population survey.
As one of the biggest logistical undertakings by the public sector in Scotland, the census on 27 March 2011 will see staff being recruited, trained and equipped to deliver questionnaires to around 2.5 million households.
The census regional managers, who will oversee delivery in Scotland’s 22 census regions, are drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds including a former health board manager and a retired head teacher.
They have a key role to play in maximising public response to the census which will produce the information that the government, local authorities and businesses require to help them understand the needs of each community and plan how billions of pounds worth of public services, including health, housing and transport, are deployed.
As part of their role, the regional managers will each be responsible for the recruitment and training of around eight district managers, 24 team leaders and up to 300 census takers (enumerators). The managers are also responsible for promoting the census locally, so that people are aware that the filling in a census questionnaire is required by law and everyone needs to be included.
On 7 October The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) begins the recruitment process for around 500 census team leaders who will supervise local delivery teams. In November recruitment starts for more than 5,800 census takers (enumerators) who will be responsible for delivering the questionnaires to all households in their area, dealing with questions from the public and following-up any household questionnaires which have not been returned.
Further details about the recruitment process and available positions can be found at www.gro-scotland.gov.uk
Census Director Peter Scrimgeour, who is responsible for leading the census programme, said:
“The appointment of census regional managers marks the start of census local activity. The individual expertise they bring to the role will help ensure a well run census across Scotland.
“The managers have a crucial part to play in co-ordinating the teams in each census region and ensuring the maximum public response to this important survey which will provide the statistics that we need to help plan services in Scotland for the next 10 years.
“We now look forward to working with them to identify the right people to fill the more than 6,000 temporary staff positions that are required to deliver the 2011 Census.”
The closing date for census team leader applications is 22 October.
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