RSSeNEWS to be determined...

National Statistician Jil Matheson has sought to reassure the public that census information is completely confidential.

In a letter published on 28 October in the Guardian under the headline 'Bedroom census' Matheson explained that 'the primary purpose of the census is to produce accurate population estimates ... No personal census information is shared with other government departments or local authorities.'

The letter was a response to a news story by Nicholas Watt in the Guardian two days earlier, 'Bedroom snooping by 2011 census', which reported that the UK Government had been 'accused of planning to pry into sleeping arrangements of British people'.

Watt had cited comments by the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Hurd, that 'An increasingly invasive and intrusive census will erode public support, cost more, and result in a less accurate survey... These bedroom snoopers are yet another sign of how the Labour government has no respect the privacy of law-abiding citizens.'

Matheson wrote that 'proposed questions in the 2011 census about the number of bedrooms and the number of people who live in a household will allow local councils to establish whether accommodation in their area is overcrowded. Plans to meet any additional housing needs can then be better defined for that area.'

She further explained that 'the proposed questions also include details of visitors on census night to ensure that people away from home are included in the census, even if they are not recorded on their home questionnaire.'

When interviewed by BBC Radio4's More or Less programme on 4 September Matheson outlined the need to bolster public faith in official statistics and highlighted the opportunities that the 2011 census offered in demonstrating the value of official statistics and their relevance to every citizen.