My immediate reaction to this was that this seemed to be a request not for a question but for a whole page of the census form.

You can read about what is currently happening about this request here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/censustransformationprogramme/consultations/the2021censusinitialviewoncontentforenglandandwales/updateonmeetinginformationneedsonthearmedforcescommunityveterans

However, planning of the 2021 census is already quite advanced, and I would be surprised if much comes of this. As the above page says, many of these questions would be better approached through administrative sources.


> On 1 Apr 2017, at 17:13, Moore, Robert <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Further to my last posting on this topic and in case members have bnot seen this, here is what the BL want:
> 
> -------------------------------------
> The Armed Forces community consists of serving personnel – Regular and Reserve - and their dependents, as well as veterans and their dependents. A veteran is anyone who has performed military service for at least one day and drawn a day’s pay in any of the following ways: Regular Forces (including National Service or the Home Guard), or Reserve/Auxiliary Forces; the Mercantile Marines in hostile waters; the Allied Civil Police Forces; full-time, in uniform for a Voluntary Aid Society in direct support of the Armed Forces; or as a British subject serving under British command in the forces of an allied nation. Dependents of serving personnel and veterans include dependent spouses/partners, dependent divorced/separated spouses, dependent widow(er)s, and dependent children.
> The proposals by the Royal British Legion are:
> If the 2021 census really is designed to “provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics, and underpin funding allocation to provide public services” , it must be equipped to capture data on Regular and Reservist Serving personnel, veterans and their families. 
> To this end, the Legion calls on the UK, Scottish and Northern Irish governments to include a new topic in the 2021 census that concerns the military service and membership of the Armed Forces community. We further call upon the UK Parliament, which will approve the final census questionnaire through legislation in 2019, to ensure that the 2021 census includes questions concerning our Armed Forces community. 
> Whilst the precise wording of any question(s) on the Armed Forces community will ultimately be a matter for the ONS, NRS, NISRA, the UK and devolved governments, and Parliament to decide, the Legion recommends that the following areas be considered when scoping the new topic: 
> 1. Whether an individual has served in the UK Armed Forces for at least one day 
> 2. Whether as individual is currently a Regular or Reservist in the UK Armed Forces 
> 3. Whether an individual is the spouse/civil partner/widow(er) of a UK Serviceman or woman, or veteran 
> 4. Whether an individual is a dependent child of a UK Serviceman or woman, or veteran 
> 5. Whether an individual has a dependant who is serving in the UK Armed Forces 
> 6. How long the individual has been/was in Service 
> 7. Whether the individual served in the Army/Royal Air Force/Royal Navy/Royal Fleet Auxiliary/Allied Civil Police Forces/Merchant Navy in hostile waters 
> 8. How long since the individual was discharged 
> 9. Whether an individual has conditions, illnesses or medical problems that are believed to be the result of their Service in the UK Armed Forces
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> In my view all very unrealistic in terms of the census and not terribly helpful in policy terms.
> 
> 
> Robert
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Professor Robert Moore
> School of Sociology and Social Policy
> Eleanor Rathbone Building
> The University of Liverpool
> L69 7ZA
> 
> Telephone and fax: 44 (0) 1352 714456
> ________________________________________
> From: Moore, Robert
> Sent: 28 March 2017 10:44
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: British Legion
> 
> Colleagues may be aware that the British Legion is campaigning for a question or questions in the 2021 census in order to get information about the Armed Forces 'community'. I have had an exchange on this topic with a very decent Labour MP who is supporting the campaign. As it's private correspondence I won't publish it on the list but if anyone would like to see it (names removed) I can send them a copy.
> 
> Robert
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Professor Robert Moore
> School of Sociology and Social Policy
> Eleanor Rathbone Building
> The University of Liverpool
> L69 7ZA
> 
> Telephone and fax: 44 (0) 1352 714456
> 
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Humphrey Southall
Professor of Historical Geography/
Director, GB Historical GIS
University of Portsmouth
Geography Dept, Buckingham Bldg,
Lion Terrace, Portsmouth PO1 3HE, UK
[log in to unmask]

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