ONS (on X): Today, the Government has commissioned the Office for
National Statistics to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based, whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031.

Commenting on the decision, Acting National Statistician Emma Rourke said:

We welcome the Government's
decision to commission a census
in 2031 and thank it for its
response. The ONS ran a highly
successful census in 2021, ata
pivotal time for the country and
we will build on that for 2031.

It has been clear from consultation and
engagement that the census remains of
enormous value for informing the most
important decisions facing our country.

We will work closely with the devolved
governments in Scotland and Northern
Ireland, as well as Welsh Government,
to ensure there are coherent population
statistics across the UK.

So it's probably OK for 2031. Whether we'll get subsequent ones, we'll
just have to hope.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

It is important to write so that you can be understood. It is far more important to write so that you cannot be misunderstood.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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J. P. Gilliver wrote:

ONS (on X): Today, the Government has commissioned the Office for
National Statistics to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based, whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031.

Commenting on the decision, Acting National Statistician Emma Rourke
said:

We welcome the Government's
decision to commission a census
in 2031 and thank it for its
response. The ONS ran a highly
successful census in 2021, ata
pivotal time for the country and
we will build on that for 2031.

It has been clear from consultation and
engagement that the census remains of
enormous value for informing the most
important decisions facing our country.

We will work closely with the devolved
governments in Scotland and Northern
Ireland, as well as Welsh Government,
to ensure there are coherent population
statistics across the UK.

So it's probably OK for 2031. Whether we'll get subsequent ones,
we'll just have to hope.

It will all become useless for future genealogical research anyway,
with the way modern life is lived!!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:11:38 -0000 (UTC), "Geoff"
<[email protected]> wrote:

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

ONS (on X): Today, the Government has commissioned the Office for
National Statistics to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based,
whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031.

Commenting on the decision, Acting National Statistician Emma Rourke
said:

We welcome the Government's
decision to commission a census
in 2031 and thank it for its
response. The ONS ran a highly
successful census in 2021, ata
pivotal time for the country and
we will build on that for 2031.

It has been clear from consultation and
engagement that the census remains of
enormous value for informing the most
important decisions facing our country.

We will work closely with the devolved
governments in Scotland and Northern
Ireland, as well as Welsh Government,
to ensure there are coherent population
statistics across the UK.

So it's probably OK for 2031. Whether we'll get subsequent ones,
we'll just have to hope.

It will all become useless for future genealogical research anyway,
with the way modern life is lived!!

Post circa1950 research is rendered almost impossible by the use of
middle name initials by the GRO.

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On 2025/7/25 18:0:27, Peter Johnson wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:11:38 -0000 (UTC), "Geoff"
<[email protected]> wrote:

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

[]

So it's probably OK for 2031. Whether we'll get subsequent ones,
we'll just have to hope.

It will all become useless for future genealogical research anyway,
with the way modern life is lived!!

If you mean the lack of marriages (not to mention same-sex
partnerships*), then it is certainly more challenging! However, still
possible. And the census is _more_ important, as it at least shows who
were living together (albeit only at 10-year intervals).

*no disapproval of same-sex partnerships intended! Only that they make biological heredity harder to divine.>

Post circa1950 research is rendered almost impossible by the use of
middle name initials by the GRO.

Well, a middle initial is still better than nothing; I take it you mean
they switched to recording middle names as initials only rather than in
full. But I'd say "rendered almost impossible" isn't really the case,
except where a _very_ common name is involved.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

... unlike other legal systems the common law is permissive. We can do
what we like, unless it is specifically prohibited by law. We are not
as rule-bound and codified as other legal systems. - Helena Kennedy QC
(Radio Times 14-20 July 2012).

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On 2025/7/26 16:25:39, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

On 2025-07-26 13:55:59 +0000, J. P. Gilliver said:

On 2025/7/25 18:0:27, Peter Johnson wrote:

[]

Post circa1950 research is rendered almost impossible by the use of
middle name initials by the GRO.

[tale of woe re passport applications]

had closed.

I sympathise with your having to deal with idiots about a change _they_
had made. But I don't see that change - regrettable though I agree it is
- being a _major_ impediment to genealogical research.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the U.S (1809-1865)

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On 2025-07-26 13:55:59 +0000, J. P. Gilliver said:

On 2025/7/25 18:0:27, Peter Johnson wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:11:38 -0000 (UTC), "Geoff"
<[email protected]> wrote:

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

[]

So it's probably OK for 2031. Whether we'll get subsequent ones,
we'll just have to hope.

It will all become useless for future genealogical research anyway,
with the way modern life is lived!!

If you mean the lack of marriages (not to mention same-sex
partnerships*), then it is certainly more challenging! However, still possible. And the census is _more_ important, as it at least shows who
were living together (albeit only at 10-year intervals).

*no disapproval of same-sex partnerships intended! Only that they make biological heredity harder to divine.>

Post circa1950 research is rendered almost impossible by the use of
middle name initials by the GRO.

Well, a middle initial is still better than nothing; I take it you mean
they switched to recording middle names as initials only rather than in
full. But I'd say "rendered almost impossible" isn't really the case,
except where a _very_ common name is involved.

This isn't exactly the problem implied by your post, but it's another difficulty that can arise with initials.

My wife has a LOT of names, and her full name is M. de la L. I. P. A.
C. C. If you don't count de and la as names this means five given names
and two family names. In her passport issued in 1996 they listed all of
them, but when she renewed it in 2006 they replaced the last given name
by A. They did this without a word of explanation but we saw no reason
to protest. We were wrong, because in 2016 they wanted to know why the
A. was spelled out on the application. They were completely unable to understand that they were the ones who had changed it in 2006 and that
it had been spelled out in all the passport applications she had ever
made, and with a bit of effort they could check their records. They
wanted her to prove that she hadn't changed her name in the preceding
year (despite the total lack of evidence that she had).

All this had to be done over the phone with idiots in Durham, because
although there used to be a UK passport office in Paris where one could
go to talk with a human being, by 2016 this had closed.

--
Athel cb

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