Scotland’s delayed census in chaos as deadline nears

SCOTLAND’S delayed census faces descending into chaos after 700,000 households were warned they have just four days to fill it in to avoid the risk of a £1,000 fine.

SNP ministers and National Records of Scotland, the public body that runs the process, are facing growing scrutiny over their decision to delay the census for a year, claiming Covid would lead to poor return rates.

The census went ahead in the rest of the UK last year, with 97 per cent of households completing forms. As of last weekend, less than three quarters had completed it in Scotland, with around 700,000 forms outstanding.

There have been claims that IT glitches, a perceived political bias to questions and a decision to allow people to self-declare their own sex have also contributed to the poor return rates.

Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at the University of Edinburgh, said it looked increasingly likely that the process, set to cost taxpayers £138 million, would be botched.

“The Scottish census is turning out to be potentially the most serious setback ever for evidence-based policy in Scotland,” he said.