Census officers begin 5,000 home visits

Wednesday 14 April 2021

Collection officers will this week begin knocking on the doors of 5,000 homes of islanders who have not completed their census forms.

The role of the officers – who will not need to enter islanders’ homes and will be equipped with PPE and an official ID - is to help individuals to fill in their questionnaire and direct them to any support services.

Completing the form is a legal requirement, and anyone who refuses is liable to pay a £1,000 fine.

“We’ve had a brilliant response to the census, with nine out of ten households having completed their census so far. Efforts now focus on providing support to Islanders who have not yet completed their census,” Statistics Jersey’s Chief Statistician Ian Cope said.

Census data – it's all about the numbers. The figures won’t show it’s you. Your personal information is confidential and stays protected for 100 years after the census. 

Visit https://t.co/qjBPwfdXNV for more information. pic.twitter.com/gBpq2A2lke

— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) April 1, 2021

“The census is a unique survey of all households in Jersey. To be truly representative, we need everyone to be counted. Last week we wrote to almost 7,000 addresses as a reminder to compete the census and we now have 5,000 left to follow up with a home visit.

“Census collection officers are already out and about and will visit households who have not submitted their census. We’re expecting these visits to continue over the next few weeks. Officers will be knocking at doors where our records show there has been no response, to provide in-person support to complete the census.”

He added that the team expect some of the outstanding addresses to be vacant properties, adding: “I would encourage anyone with a vacant property to contact the Census Office to let us know. You can email us at census@gov.je or call us on 444400.”