Census return rate for city still among lowest in Scotland

Only four in every five Dundee households have filled out their census form as the Scottish Government faces a struggle to meet its own key deadline targets.

The city still has one of the lowest return rates in the country as the end of May cut-off approaches.

Scots were first told to complete the survey by May 1, but the deadline was extended by four weeks last month due to the dismal uptake.

The Scottish Government had already delayed the census by a year due to the pandemic, despite the census going ahead in England.

The National Records of Scotland target for returned surveys is 94%. Each council area requires a completion rate of at least 85%.

Only Aberdeenshire and the Western Isles have hit the 90% mark with just days remaining.

Only Glasgow, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire have a worse return rate than Dundee’s 80.8%.

It means the Scottish Government is well behind its key targets as political rivals brand the process a “shambles”.

Tory MSP Donald Cameron said: “The continued low response rate shows that their rejection of being part of a UK-wide census was completely misguided.

“They put their nationalist ideology above being part of a successful campaign across the UK despite repeated calls from the Scottish Conservatives to carry out the Scottish census in 2021.”

Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “The public need answers regarding the shambles of this year’s vital census.

“Millions in taxpayer cash has been spent on this bungled census and yet we are no clearer what exactly has gone wrong. It looks like Scotland might not even reach a 90% completion rate.”

It was revealed earlier this month that census staff had visited more than one million households to try to improve uptake.

Fewer than 80% of households across the country had completed the form when the deadline was first extended.

Filling out the census is compulsory and Scots who fail to do it on time risk a £1,000 fine.

The survey asks a range of questions on housing, age, sex and job status.

It is regularly used by government agencies and public bodies to help plan where funding should go.

Ex-Scottish Lib Dem chief Willie Rennie said: “The census is being completed at a snail’s pace.

“The Scottish Government needs to be open about why progress continues to be slow and what more it will now do to resolve this headache.”

SNP minister Angus Robertson insisted it was “vital” to see a higher return rate and pleaded with residents to fill out their forms.

He said: “I would urge everyone who has not completed their census to do so immediately and before the end of May, to avoid the risk of prosecution.”

TIME’S SHORT: Scots are being urged to fill out their census forms before the end of May as the deadline looms.