The snooper's census: 2011 survey will ask for the name, sex and birth date of all our 'overnight visitors'

By James Chapman

Ministers are being accused of planning to snoop into citizens' private lives in the most intrusive national census ever carried out.

The 2011 survey will demand to know how many bedrooms there are in homes and detailed information about any 'overnight visitors'.

Other new questions include how well respondents can speak English, what kind of central heating they have installed, whether they have a second home, how they define their national identity and whether they are in civil partnerships.

The Conservatives said the attempt to find out sleeping arrangements was particularly objectionable.

The demand for the number of bedrooms in each home, coupled with a requirement to give the name, sex, date of birth and address of any overnight visitors, amounted to 'bedroom snooping', they said.

Tory Cabinet Office spokesman Nick Hurd said: 'An increasingly invasive and intrusive census will erode public support, cost more and result in a less accurate survey.

'Just because the Government has the legal powers to ask these questions does not give the state the licence to ask anything they want.

'These bedroom snoopers are yet another sign of how the Labour Government has no respect for the privacy of law-abiding citizens.'

The census, which is conducted every ten years, is designed to give a snapshot of demographic and social changes in the UK.

The 2011 survey is due to be carried out on March 27 and the Government has revealed plans for a wider range of questions.

Citizens will no longer be asked if they have access to a bath or shower but will be asked how many bedrooms their property has.

According to a specimen 2011 census on the Office for National Statistics website, they will also be asked about 'same sex civil partnership status' for the first time.

The specimen census asks 'how would you describe your national identity?,' offering English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British or 'other', with space to add further details. The section on ethnic groups has also been expanded from 2001, with separate categories for 'Gypsy or Irish Traveller' and 'Arab' for the first time. It also asks: 'How well can you speak English?... very well, well, not well or not at all.'

The expansion in scope of the census is taking place even though the 2001 survey was sharply criticised.

At a cost of £270million, it asked about race and religion and a host of other personal details.

At least a million failed to respond to it, despite the threat of a criminal conviction and a £1,000 fine. The details of the census must be approved by Parliament in advance.

Ministers insist the questions have been drawn up following extensive consultation and balance the need for information against whether most would find the questions reasonable.

But critics say there is evidence of creeping intrusion. As well as those on race and religion, other questions included in the 2001 census that were not asked in 1991 included details of citizen's general health and the time since they last worked.

Cabinet Office Minister Angela Smith said: 'The questions have been devised to produce reliable and accurate data.

'The Office for National Statistics has carried out extensive consultations and testing over a number of years to ensure that the questions are justified, both in terms of the need for the information and public acceptability.'

She also said census forms would be delivered by post but could be completed online.