Working with ONS - the 9 strands of partnership activity – what does this mean?
In issue one we explained how working in partnership with local authorities is essential to deliver a successful census. We introduced the concept of 9 strands of partnership activity which ONS developed together with local authorities to focus support for census activities. In this issue we’ll look at those activities in a bit more detail and share some high-level dates which underpin them. As we move closer to the census, we’ll tell you more.
We’re not expecting you to work on these activities alone. In September 2020 we will be linking you up with your local census engagement manager (CEM). They’ll be employed full-time by ONS and will support you with your census activities. We’ll tell you more about CEMs and how they can help in a later newsletter. We’ll also be sharing a local authority partnership guide with you in the summer, and we’ll be inviting you to a workshop near you to help you get ready for the census.
Meanwhile, we’ll be writing to all local authority Chief Executives in England and Wales to ask for their support with the 2021 Census. By working together, we can make sure the 2021 Census is successful in your area.
9 strands activities in more detail
1. Development of an address index to ensure the fullest coverage
A comprehensive high-quality address index covering all households and communal establishments is essential to ensure an inclusive and successful census. ONS is using the AddressBase product that’s maintained by GeoPlace as our primary reference set for the 2021 Census. Your local Address Custodian’s work in maintaining and improving address quality of the Local Land and Property Gazetteer and resolving address anomalies with GeoPlace is vital to the accuracy of AddressBase.
Important dates to note are:
Now until Nov 20 ONS desk based address resolution
08/07/20 to 19/08/20 ONS address check field operation
Sept 20 to 19/10/20 Address list creation for census enumeration
Dec 20 to Jan 21 Address list update
2. Provide local information to identify and target local challenges
Local councils know their area and the communities within it best. Sharing information about your area and the communities within it will support ONS to run a smooth and safe census operation. Local information will help us to count everyone and subsequently to provide high quality accurate data. Local information helps us to target engagement activities to reach the communities who may need additional support and encouragement to complete their census questionnaire. We’ll share the information we hold about your council through your census engagement manager (CEM) and ask you to work with them to build a plan which will prioritise our engagement activities in your area.
Important dates to note are:
June 20 ONS will share field design for students, communal establishments, homeless and rough sleepers with LA
Sept 20 ONS derived area and community information shared with LAs (including key population groups and known digital exclusion) as part of CEM community engagement planning activity
3. Identify and share local community contacts
Community engagement is the key to building trust in communities who may face barriers to participating in the census and are less likely to respond. That’s why we’re linking councils to their own ONS census engagement manager (CEM) whose purpose is to support local communities to prepare them for the census. We know that you’re already working within these communities through your outreach activities, so sharing what you have learned will give your CEM a head-start and help them to really get to the heart of the communities who need help.
Important dates to note are:
From Sept 20 Meet your CEM and set up regular catch up meetings
4. Help us to recruit field staff
In order to get the best census response rate possible, we will be recruiting local field staff to encourage householders to complete their questionnaires.
Local people who know their areas and can relate to the communities within it are the best people to fulfil this role. The hours are flexible, including part time, and local authority employees (for example electoral registration canvassers) may want to apply for them.
We’ll share the timeline for recruitment, job descriptions, numbers and links to the ONS Census Jobs adverts. We’d like you to help us to promote them to local people in your area though your usual recruitment channels.
Important dates to note are:
Apr 20 to Jun 20 ONS will provide list of census job roles, volumes, job descriptions, language requirements and employment dates
From Jun 20 LA to advertise Census Jobs internally and through their normal recruitment channels
5. Provide practical support to the field operation (for example meeting rooms).
Once our field staff are working, from time to time we may need a little extra help from you. We’d welcome the occasional use of a desk, or a room within your council premises. We know this might not always be possible, but even when you can’t help, you’ll be able to suggest an alterative in your area. We’re still working out what practical help we’ll need, but as soon as we know, we’ll be in touch.
Important dates to note are:
Sept 20 to Apr 21 ONS to share practical support requirements with LAs and ask for assistance where available
6. Support online completions and our Assisted Digital service.
Census 2021 will be “online first”, but we know going online is not easy for everyone. For those who want to complete their questionnaire online, but need help, we’ll offer face-to-face Assisted Digital services at local Census Support Centres. This help will be provided at locations with staff and technology available to provide respondents with the help they need.
We also know that people may want to complete their census questionnaire in the trusted places they normally go to when they want to get online. If you have facilities that your residents already use to access your online services we’d also like you to make these available for census completion. We can provide you with guidance and promotion materials.
Important dates to note are:
From Aug-20 ONS will share overview of AD assistance and locations
Feb 21 to Apr 21 LAs to promote AD service (publicity information, leaflets etc provided by ONS)
7. Support local publicity and media relations activity
We’ll be running a national and local publicity campaign to reach a wide audience and aimed at maximising awareness of the census and encouraging participation. We’ll use a number of channels, including advertising, TV, radio and social media highlighting the importance of the census and why and how people should take part.
As well as a general campaign we will be tailoring messages to reach specific audience such as young people, ethnic minority communities and older people.
We need you to help us to spread the word, and we’ll want to work with your communications teams to do this. We’ll provide an overview of our campaign and range of materials to support you.
Important dates to note are:
Jul 20 ONS will share overview of LA toolkit and products
Aug 20 ONS will share census campaign timeline
Sept 20 LA Toolkit available online
Sept 20 to Oct 20 ONS will provide Councillor Handbook for distribution (printed and digital available)
Sept 20 to Apr 21 ONS to share census social media content for LA use (phased release)
Nov 20 ONS to provide LAs with content for magazines and publications
Nov 20 to Apr 21 LAs to include content promoting Census 2021 in their existing magazines and publications
Jan 21 to Mar 21 ONS to provide a range of press releases for external use
8. Provide local data to support quality assurance
The census results will only be of value if they are fit for purpose and trusted by users as a basis for decisions. We’ve published our strategy for quality assuring the census data which is our initial proposal for how we will approach this work. We invite your thoughts on this proposal. In particular, we want to understand:
- What information would you need from ONS to give you confidence in the census results?
- What checks or comparisons will you do when the data is released?
- Are there any data sources within your organisations that you plan to use to assure the numbers?
Please send any thoughts or comments to census.quality.assurance@ons.gov.uk, and we’ll keep you updated as this work develops.
We’ve also been in contact with all local authorities to agree data sharing arrangements for Council Tax data. These data will help us to improve statistics for the public good, including the 2021 Census. By providing these data your council will be directly involved in improving census outputs through helping quality assure the local level area population estimates.
9. Maximise use of census data in local authorities and support the use of census data by local communities
ONS is working with users to develop appropriate products.
We’re developing a web-based interactive flexible table builder tool to enable people to self-source the data sets they need applying their own criteria. Confidentiality is built in so users won’t be able to identify small groups of people or individuals in specific areas.
A range of other products will be made available over-time, as they are completed. This will include Origin Destination data, microdata, UK data and access, Topic based reports and visualisations of the data.
We are developing our approach to support use of census outputs with data users. If you would like to know more, or get involved in developing census outputs please contact us at census.outputs@ons.gov.uk
Important dates to note are:
Summer/Autumn 20 Census Outputs Prospectus – a description of what and how users will be able to access the full range of Census 2021 products and outputs
Mar 22 to Mar 23 ONS aim to publish the first results from Census 2021 within a year, and complete main census releases within 2 years
Useful Links
The Census White Paper: Help Shape Our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/legislationandpolicy
Census 2021 Website
https://census.gov.uk/
ONSs approach and processes for assuring the quality of 2021 Census data:
The ONS initial proposal for how we will check the Census 2021 processes and results to make sure users can rely on them
https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/approachandprocessesforassuringthequalityofthe2021censusdata
Newsletter for Local Authority Partners
Issue One
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