UK Centre for Census Access Studies

UK 1911 and 1921 censuses to be opened: "The National Archives has been forced to abandon its unlawful plans to keep the 1911 Census closed to public inspection for 100 years.

That important historic change has taken place because the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has decided that the National Archives improperly refused to provide one of our most pro-active campaigners (Guy Etchells of Wakefield) with an extract from the 1911 census for an address in Leicestershire, under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000"

If a UK citizen please sign:-
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to enable better Freedom of Information access to census and other archives

Give access after 20 years Normal Closure or 70 years Exceptional Closure.

The Danish model is 20 years closure and 75 year closure for matters of state security and confidential personal data

You may apply for special permission for early access on pain of a fine or 6 months in prison for unlawful publication.

Their Census of 1930 1940 and 1950 are often accessed

and in UK census 29 September 1939 - WW2 National Registration, 8 April 1951, 23 April 1961, 25 April 1971,and 5 April 1981,

should be available conditionally too.

Submitted by Hugh Watkins – Deadline to sign up by: 08 January 2008 – Signatures: 167

reduce the classified period for census data from 100 years to 70 years

Jen Tibbetts

8 March 2007

signatures 21289