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Scotland to go it alone for 2011 census

Scotland's records office has decided to have a more distinctly Scottish system for conducting the next census.

Duncan Macniven, the Registrar General, consulted Scottish Government ministers who are happy to allow Scotland to move away from the combined census system with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in England and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

In 2001, Scotland had two questions on religion, recording "current religion" and "religion brought up in" whereas in England only the "current religion" question was asked. There is a proposal for Scotland to return to the single question, backed by the Church of Scotland.

Morag Mylne, convener of the Church of Scotland's church and society council, said: "In general, if you ask two sets of people the same set of questions it is easier to draw comparisons between the two groups."

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: "A person may have been brought up in a particular religion, but they may not want to include that if they feel they are no longer part of that religion."

Full story at The Herald.