Formal Minutes
Wednesday 9 April 2014
Members present:
Mr Bernard Jenkin, in the Chair
| Paul Flynn
Sheila Gilmore
| | Kelvin Hopkins
|
Draft Report (Too soon to scrap the Census),
proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.
Draft Report (The future of the census), proposed
by Paul Flynn, brought up and read as follows:
1. Conservative inertia of the statistics establishment distorts judgement of census reform for 2021 as it dominated consideration of the 2011 by this committee a decade ago.
2. Major national decisions are routinely based on minute samples as low as 0.0001%. The cost of the next census will be £1billion. Only the ten year census is a 100% sample sought. This is wasteful and irrational. Frequently a distorted impression is created that rapidly loses its value in ten years between censuses.
3. The evidence from statistics establishment sought the comfort blanket of the status. One claimed that the manager of a supermarket would use census information to order next week's cabbages rather than information on how many cabbages are sold this week. Much of the evidence was sentimentally loyal to the tradition of an annual census.
4. Little assessment has been made an alternative rolling census that could be based on a small sample but updated from existing sources on a monthly or annual basis. These results could be incorporated into now routine publication of statistics. These reports would avoid the attempted manipulations of the census by groups such as the Jedi knights.
Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Chair's
draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.-(The
Chair.)
Amendment proposed, to leave out "Chair's draft
Report" and insert "draft Report proposed by Paul Flynn".-(Paul
Flynn.)
Question put, That the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
Ayes, 1
Paul Flynn
| | Noes, 2
Sheila Gilmore
Kelvin Hopkins
|
Main Question put and agreed to.
Ordered, That the draft
Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 34 read and agreed to.
Summary agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report
be the Fifteenth Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chair
make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That embargoed
copies of the Report be made available (Standing Order No. 134).
[Adjourned till Tuesday 29 April at 9.15am
| 
