Census via email could have saved UK £30m

The government could have saved taxpayers over £30m if it had delivered census forms via email rather than delivering them to households.

A report from marketing group Responsys has slammed the government for spending over £200m on delivering census forms via post and by hand. With over one third of UK households now online and internet access available to many more people at work, the government should have allocated time and resources to email delivery of forms, the research claims. In a statement, Nic Scott, vice president EMEA of Responsys, said it was incredible that a government which purports to embrace technology and the internet would rely on the same methods of delivery that have existed since the inception of the census 200 years ago. A spokeswoman for the National Statistics Office said the government did not have the time or resources to establish email facilities for this census. She added that certain security features, such as handwritten signatures, made paper forms essential, but that email surveys would be considered for the next census.