Introduction

In April 2005 Carmarthenshire County Council was approached by ONS to gauge reaction and commitment to being chosen as one of the candidate areas involved in the 2007 Census Test. Carmarthenshire was chosen for the 2007 test as being typical of a ‘Countryside and Coastal area’, a Welsh Unitary Authority which also had an up to date local land and property gazetteer (LLPG). Carmarthenshire is rural, although the county was identified in the ‘Enumeration Categorisation’ as being relatively easy to enumerate, many areas are classified super sparse which brings its own problems of delivering and collecting forms which are qualitatively different from those that affect inner city areas.

One important aspect of the test was catering for the 84,000 Welsh speakers spread throughout the whole county, as identified in the 2001 census. The Welsh Language Act gives equal status to the two languages and Carmarthenshire protocol puts Welsh place names before English, which has implications for the Local Land and Property Gazetteer.

Local Authority Commitment

The Chief Executive of Carmarthenshire County Council who is an active member of SOLACE Wales, offered his full support for the Test provided it did not interfere with the day to day operations of the Regeneration and Leisure Service where Census Liaison is based. This was seen as critical to the “buy in” to the Test as relevant data was held by other Departments and their co-operation was needed corporately for the success of the Test in Carmarthenshire.

An initial meeting was held with ONS representatives, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Local Government Data Unit for Wales in Cardiff, and subsequent meetings were held with ONS representatives in Carmarthenshire. These meetings led to the appointment of a Census Liaison Manager (CLM) with several years experience of Census preparations, and an Assistant Census Liaison Manager (ACLM) with experience in data analysis and GIS applications, who would be the main contact and link with ONS. It was agreed that the main purpose of the roles would be to “provide guidance and information to ONS, on a variety of topics related to the planning and conduct of the test”.

The County Council was presented with a draft Service Level Agreement from ONS which was edited to make it pertinent to the Authority, and with legal and data protection issues being overcome by agreeing that non disclosive information would be released, the SLA was duly signed.

Further meetings were attended in Carmarthen and London, and as new ONS personnel were appointed, they met with the CLM and ACLM in Carmarthenshire. These series meetings were essential for building up a good working relationship between the LA and ONS, by putting faces to names and importantly advising ONS of the particular characteristics of an area through area profiles etc.

Planning of the Census Test

ONS had an initial plan of how the Census Test would work in practice and this was relayed to Local Authority officials at workshops and meetings with ONS personnel. This proved useful but LA officials knew their areas and with their local knowledge they were able to shape the ONS blueprint to address the particular characteristics of the areas that were being tested in Carmarthenshire.

For example there was evidence of areas where the Welsh Language was particularly strong, and where recruitment of Welsh speaking enumerators would benefit the Test. This led to Hays Recruitment being engaged with the Local Authority at Census Liaison meetings, with the Census Area Manager and the various Census Team Managers.

As a microcosm of Wales, the Test in Carmarthenshire necessitated a consistent means of communication and with the agreement of the Chief Executive the Test was publicised at meetings of the 6 Community Networks in Carmarthenshire and via correspondence and maps sent to all County Councillors and Community Councils whether or not their areas were involved in the Test.

Local Authority Liaison

Liaison is a two way process and the Service Level Agreement which was agreed with ONS presented no real problems to the County Council:

• The data gathering exercise worked particularly well in Carmarthenshire, and the requisite data was duly shared with ONS.
• Support and advice to the Census Area Manager and Census Team Managers at an early stage in the planning process was given by the ACLM, and proved to be particularly helpful to them and their field staff.
• The attendance of an ONS representative at Community Network meetings was beneficial and provided local people with an overview of the Census Test, whilst the attendance of the ACLM gave a local perspective.
• Publicity for the Test was undertaken by the Local Authority - within the County Council through Team Briefs, Newsletters and outside the Authority via press releases.
• Although not perhaps seen as a direct element of the Test, Local Authority liaison with Dyfed Powys Police ensured that Community Safety was not affected.

 
The Lessons of the Test

It is important to learn the lessons of the Test in Carmarthenshire to ensure that in 2011 the County has a good response to the Census. With Carmarthenshire having the highest return of the five areas in the Test it could be perceived that we might have gone some way to improving enumeration, but that may or not be the case. To ensure improvements for 2011 the following needs to be built on:

• Local authority liaison with commitment from the top at an early stage is key and putting faces to names is essential for building up good working relationship between ONS and the LA.
• Planning and Debriefing Sessions should involve the local authority at all stages.
• Attendance of the Local Authority ACLM was advantageous at the Community Network meetings, and provided a local flavour to the ONS overview for those people living in communities that were subject to the Test.
• The rural aspect of the area and the importance of the Welsh language need to be better understood by Census planners at ONS, particularly as the failure to appreciate these characteristics can bring about differences in enumeration.