Liberty understands that many people have concerns over the compulsory nature of the census and the nature of the information required. We have been asked to consider potential issues under the Human Rights Act 1998.

In principle we do not object to a national census as long as there are appropriate safeguards in place. There are convincing wider social policy arguments for the Government to collate information. For example, the Census can be used as a tool for targeting funding for social exclusion.

There are safeguards in place to ensure that information is not passed on. It is a criminal offence for someone to pass on information obtained and it cannot be passed on to any other government department. The information will not become public for 100 years. All information is collated centrally and anyone involved in the process will not deal with forms collected from the area they live.

The Government Website www.statistics.gov.uk goes into greater detail about these safeguards and other areas of concern.

While Liberty does not object to the use of a census we do not feel that the criminal law is the correct means of ensuring compliance.

We are also specifically concerned about compulsory questions concerning race. While it is not compulsory to give details of religion, you must answer questions relating to ethnicity. Liberty feels there may be arguments under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (the Right to Privacy and Family Life) which would support a decision not to answer this question.

If anyone chooses not to fill in the form, or is selective in the responses they provide they may face prosecution. If you are subsequently prosecuted because you chose not fill in the form, or sections of it, you can write to us explaining why. We will consider the details of each case to see if there are legal grounds for launching a test case. However we cannot guarantee that we will be able to take on any individual case and anyone who does not complete the form should be aware that they could face criminal prosecution and a fine of up to £1000.