UK Edition
The deadline for the Scottish census has been extended again after it recorded the lowest-ever response rate in the modern era.
National Records of Scotland said it would continue to accept returns until June 12 after admitting that more than 400,000 households had failed to fill it in, even after a previous four-week extension.
The response rate of 87.5 per cent is well below a 94 per cent target and compares with 97 per cent achieved in the rest of the UK, where the census went ahead as planned last year.
However, SNP ministers decided to delay the survey by a year, blaming Covid. Critics have claimed the real reason was because of a desire to undermine a UK-wide process.
The last census, in 2011, recorded a 94 per cent response rate, similar to levels in 2001. In 1991, the response rate was 96 per cent.
‘Dire figures’
The decision to delay the census by 12 months, and then for another four weeks, cost taxpayers around £30 million, bringing the total bill to almost £150 million.
Fears have been raised that the botched survey will cause problems for years to come, as the data is used to allocate government resources and decide on policy.
“These dire figures are humiliating for the SNP but they should worry us all,” said Sarah Boyack, the Labour MSP.
“This botched exercise has wasted millions of pounds of taxpayer money and left us with a census that is not credible. Worst of all, the poorest communities stand to be robbed of vital resources for years to come because of this farce.
“The SNP must stop burying their heads in the sand about the severity of this shambles and explain how they will fix the mess they have made.”
‘Chaotic, poorly-publicised’ census
New figures have also revealed that four of Scotland’s 32 council areas have not hit a target of 85 per cent uptake, which was set for every local authority boundary.
Estimates will be made for those who did not return forms, who could theoretically face fines of £1,000.
The chairman of an expert group set up by National Records of Scotland, which runs the survey under direction from SNP ministers, said the census had provided a “solid foundation” upon which to build.
However, the Scottish Tories dismissed the claim as “spin” designed to deflect from a “disastrous Scottish census”.
Donald Cameron, the party’s constitution spokesman, said: “What is beyond doubt is that the SNP, in their desperation to be different, shunned a UK-wide census and publicity campaign that yielded a 97 per cent completion rate to do their own thing.
“The result has been a chaotic, poorly-publicised, delayed and over-budget census that once again highlights how incompetent and wasteful this SNP government is.”