The census output prospectus was the primary source of information for customers as results from the Census were being planned and released.
Updated and more specialised results continue to be released, but the main phase of Census releases drew to a close towards the end of 2004. To coincide with this, a final version of the output prospectus was produced at the end of 2004.
The 2001 Census web pages were redeveloped in November 2005 to provide better access to 2001 Census results, supporting information, and plans for the 2011 Census. This included the introduction of a comprehensive product catalogue section providing a single entry point to locate all 2001 results and supporting information available on the web and elsewhere.
The product catalogue contains information that is available in the prospectus, but the catalogue is kept up to date and provides additional information and options. The prospectus had not been updated since 2004 and was therefore discontinued in Summer 2007 (although retained as an archive for those customers familiar with it, and for reference purposes).
This page draws on some of the material contained in the prospectus to provide a summary of the schedule and programme of releases from the 2001 Census as they happened.
A full range of results
Results from the 2001 Census were issued in concurrent phases so that figures for all local areas and for England and Wales as a whole were available at the same time. The volume of output meant that following the first results released in September 2002 there were a series of main releases which began in February 2003 and were completed in December 2004.
Standard statistics
The main results are in the form of standard pre-defined sets of statistics, with more detail for larger populations. These provide ready comparability between areas, and are the basis for reports and further local statistics.
The following diagram illustrates the increase of statistical detail with diminishing geographical detail. Also, as more layers of statistics are available for larger areas, it is possible to ‘drill down’ from summary to detail within a single area, such as a ward.
First releases
The first results from the 2001 Census, containing age by sex figures for areas throughout England and Wales, were published on 30 September 2002. There was also a bilingual report containing similar figures for areas in Wales.
When first issued in March 2002 the output prospectus contained a schedule for the main output to be delivered ina specificed period from the release of the Key Statistics for local authorities in December 2002, through completion of Reports to Parliament, and concluding with complete availability of standard area statistics in June/July 2003. Workplace and migration statistics where scheduled to become available somewhat later.
Revisions to schedules - March 2002 - December 2003
It was announced on 31 July 2002 that the Key Statistics for local authorities would be released on 13 February 2003, and the timetable for release of subsequent output, including the release of the Standard Tables and the Census Area Statistics, would be reviewed. Further factors relating to harmonisation of boundaries and to output for overlapping geographies also affected the timings. A new schedule, revised on the basis of current best estimates was issued in November 2002.
The schedule was further revised in March 2003 to enable steps to be taken to maintain the complete confidentiality of individuals while not affecting already published figures. These steps became necessary because the part of the One Number Census process which imputed whole households occasionally used ‘donor’ households more than once - information from actual households counted in the Census was replicated. These cases were clustered in certain defined small areas and posed a potential risk that information about donor households might be disclosed. Further processing was carried out to correct the clustering and mitigate the risk of disclosure. This only affected imputed households, and the numbers of households and persons remain unchanged, as did the overall characteristics of the population, at local authority level and above.
The National report for England and Wales was released on 7 May 2003, and summary results for local areas were released on 30 June 2003, followed by release of detailed results in July and September 2003.
Further changes were made to the schedule at the end of June 2003 to reflect the actual capacity of the output production system as a whole, including the checking of output once it was operating with large volumes of data.
Detailed results for local areas, including Output Area (OA) level - the smallest area for which Census results are released - were published in the form of Census Area Statistics (CAS) in September 2003.
A further announcement on 23 October 2003 detailed the review of a potential risk that information about individual workplaces could be disclosed through Census tables on workplace populations. It also announced that it was taking longer than planned to produce tables about out migrants for technical reasons. This meant that remaining releases of Census results for England and Wales, most of which were expected to contain workplace and out migrant tables, could not go ahead as planned.
The schedule for the remaining Census output was then withdrawn pending the publication of further revisions. A revised schedule was published on 17 December 2003.
Complete programme
The full programme of planned main results from the 2001 Census was finally completed in December 2004, although updates and specialized results continue to be published.
Full details of all the results available form the 2001 Census, together with information about the release dates achieved and the availability online and in other media, can be found using the links in the supporting information boxes.
Census News
