Census team fails to fill job vacancies

Bosses behind the survey admitted that 300 of 3,100 jobs available in the region were still vacant, with three weeks to go until Census Day on Sunday, March 27.

Posts still available include both interviewer and collector roles, which involve visiting homes to collect census forms and helping people who struggle with the questions.

A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said February 28 deadlines had been extended for the Yorkshire jobs to allow people to put in applications this month.

She added: “There are still around 300 jobs to be filled from the 3,100 which were offered across the Yorkshire and Humber region. People who wish to apply should visit our website.”

The address is https://censusjobs.co.uk.

Questionnaires for the £482m census effort were being posted out to an estimated 26 million households across England and Wales yesterday with documents arriving at households from today.

Across the country, the operation will employ 35,000 field staff as advisers, co-ordinators, enumerators and census collectors.

Critics of the census have argued it is an infringement of civil liberties and unnecessary, as many authorities already have most of the information about citizens.