Do you know the postcode for where you work?

Employees are being reminded to make a note of the postcode of where they work.  This is so they can record it on their 2011 Census questionnaires which are due to be issued 27th March.  The Census is being carried out by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) to find out more about the people who live in England and Wales and about the make-up of local neighbourhoods.

Around 25 million households will be sent questionnaires to complete.  They will ask about work, health, national identity, citizenship, ethnic background, education, second homes, language, religion, marital status and so on. These statistics are then used to build a picture of today's society.

The address and postcode of where people work is one of a number of questions contained in the census questionnaire about jobs, place of work, hours of employment and methods of travel to work. Answers to these questions help to build a profile of the economy of England and Wales and provide the foundation for other labour market and economic statistics published by ONS.

In the 2001 Census, nearly 8 per cent of questionnaires did not include a workplace postcode. In some parts of the country, the figure was as high as 18 per cent and large number of calls were taken by the census contact centre from people who were unsure about their work address.

Councillor Tracey Onslow, Wyre Forest District Council's Cabinet Member for Community and Partnership Services said,

"While everyone is likely to know their own postcode at home, many won't know the postcode of their workplace.  It's a key piece of information which feeds into the overall picture.  Details of where people live, where they work and how they travel to their place of employment provide important statistics for transport planning and other strategic decisions."

She added,

"We're urging everyone to take part in the Census.  It matters to Wyre Forest District Council because like all local authorities in England and Wales, we rely on census population statistics to identify local needs for public services. Central government funding for these is directly related to how many and what kind of people the census shows live in our area. So even if the census were to end up just a few households short, it could make a very real difference to people's lives. The census needs to include everyone, everywhere – and that's why we'd like everyone to take part. 

Census Day is 27 March 2011 and more information is available from the Census website.

Date of issue - 11th February 2011