5,000 Census Home Visits Underway

Wednesday, 14 April 2021 12:05

Officers are starting to visit islanders who have still not completed their census.

Around 5,000 households are yet to fill it out.

The visits will take place over the next few weeks.

The officers, who have been told to distance and have PPE on them, won't go into any houses and will carry ID to prove they are working on the census.

Statistics Jersey says the officers will give help and encouragement to those who have yet to fill it in and direct them to the support services they need.

"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.

"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 complete 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." - Ian Cope, Chief Statistician.

Some of the 5,000 outstanding addresses will be empty and anyone with a vacant property is being asked to contact the Census Office to tell them.

People who don't submit the questionnaire could be fined up to £1,000.