London,
25
April
2011
|
23:00
Europe/London

Hackney Council reminder about census forms

Residents have less than two weeks to complete and return their census form by the 6 May deadline to avoid a £1000 fine from the government.

Money for Hackney’s health services, education, housing and social care is calculated using your census information so households need to return their forms to make sure we get all the funding we need.

Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, strongly encouraged residents to fill the form in: “It’s vital that everyone fills in their census form and returns it before the 6 May deadline. A high response rate is essential for ensuring more central government funding for the borough’s health, education and other public services over the next decade or more.

"The low response in 2001 meant that, in the last year alone, the borough lost out on at least £57m of funding just for health and Council services and Hackney can’t afford to be short changed like this in the future.”

Personal information is completely confidential by law and is stored in such a way that makes it impossible to identify and individual or household. The Council also doesn’t see this information.

For advice on how to fill in the form, or if you haven’t received one yet or need a replacement, call 03000 201 101 or visit www.census.gov.uk. You can also take your census form to any one of Hackney’s libraries and ask the staff for assistance in filling it in.

Ends

For more information, contact Susie Haywood, Hackney Council press office, 020 8265 6373.