The Census Act 1920 is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. Providing for a census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 for Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 (or any subsidiary part of it), on a date to be fixed by Order in Council, it remains the primary legislation for the provision of the UK census in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. A minimum of five years is required between censuses.

Parts of the Act

1. Power to direct taking of census.
2. Duty of Registrar-General to carry out census, and provision for expenses.
3. Regulations with respect to proceedings for taking census.
4. Preparation of reports and abstracts.
5. Preparation of statistics in respect of periods between one census and another.
6. Provision with respect to local census.
7. Expenses of local authorities.
8. Penalties.
9. Application to Scotland.
10. Short title and extent.

Schedule

The Schedule to the Act lists the 'Matters in respect of which particulars may be required'. They are:

1. Names, sex, age.
2. Occupation, profession, trade or employment.
3. Nationality, birthplace, race, language.
4. Place of abode and character of dwelling.
5. Condition as to marriage, relation to head of family, issue born in marriage.
6. Any other matters with respect to which it is desirable to obtain statistical information with a view to ascertaining the social or civil condition of the population.

Religion was added at 5A in the Schedule by the Census (Amendment) Act 2000

Census (Amendment) Act 2000

The Census Act 2000 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gained Royal Assent on the 28th July 2000....

 (c. 24) in England and Wales, and the Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2000 in Scotland. The 2000 amendment also added a clause in Section 8 of the 1920 Act to make the provision of religion optional:

no person shall be liable to a penalty under subsection (1) for refusing or neglecting to state any particulars in respect of religion

See also

• Census in the United Kingdom
  Census in the United Kingdom
  Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
  
  
• Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
  Census Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
  The Census Act 1969 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, passed 24 June 1969. It enabled ministers to order a census of population in Northern Ireland at intervals of five years or more. The Act shares similarities with the Census Act 1920 which provides for censuses in England,...
  
   (c. 8 N.I.), similar legislation for Northern Ireland
• Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991
  Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991
  The Census Act 1991 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gained Royal Assent on the 7th March 1991....
  
  (c. 6), amendments to Section 8

External links

• Census 2001 - Legislation and the role of Parliament National Statistics