Ignore the fact that legally you have to fill in your census or pay a fine for a second- actually what are the reasons for completing it?

Liberal Democrat Councillor Melvyn Teare, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability at St Albans City and District Council, said: “It is important that every household completes the questionnaire so that the Council has an accurate picture of the local population living in the District. This will help us plan services to support residents in St Albans City and District in the future. The Census will also give central government figures which they can use in making decisions about allocating future grants to St Albans City and District Council for use in the community.”

Locally the census provides a wealth of anonymised information used for everything from school places to hospital beds.

If you need help or support there are sessions taking place at:

• The Old Town Hall, Market Place, St Peter’s Street, St Albans in the ground floor foyer area on Wednesday, 23 March from 10am to 4pm.
• St Albans Central Library, The Maltings, Chequer Street, St Albans on Wednesday, 30 March from 10am to 3pm.

Guides for people whose first language is not English are available in more than 50 languages and can be downloaded, or ordered, from www.census.gov.uk. The census questionnaire is also available in large print and there is a British Sign Language clip on the website.

You can arrange for a home visit if you need help completing the questionnaire by calling the Census helpline on 0300 0201 101 which is available from 5 March 2011.

It only takes 10 minutes on average to complete the Census questionnaire and all personal information is kept confidential for 100 years. Remember, it is a legal requirement for all households to complete a Census form and you may be fined up to £1,000 for failing to do so.

More information about the Census is available is at: http://2011.census.gov.uk/My-census/Frequently-asked-questions#3

And finally as an ancedote from local Liberal Democrat Councillor Allan Witherick

“I posted up on my facebook status that I was filling mine in online and was bemused to find that one of my friends was doing it by hand so that her descendants could see it in 100 years time and read what she had written in her own handwriting.  My handwriting is so bad I’m saving the tax payer (ie me!) money having to get it reentered on to the computer and some poor soul trying to decipher my scrawl!”