Written question asked by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 November 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 November 2011. It was answered by Lord Clarke of Nottingham (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 November 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Census: Guernsey

Question: (2) for what reason the Bailiwick of Guernsey has not organised a census in 2011.

Answer: My Department has not had any discussions with the States of Guernsey on their decision not to hold a census of Guernsey's population in 2011.As an internally self-governing dependency of the Crown, this is entirely a matter for the island authorities. However, I can inform the right hon. Member that the States of Guernsey has migrated to an electronic collation of social and economic data traditionally compiled by paper census. It was considered that the merits of moving to such a system were compelling, following examples set by countries such as Finland.Alderney is working with Guernsey towards adopting a similar system and Sark compiles its own population figures.

Secondary information