Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, has been forced to eat his words over the 2011 Census. In opposition he castigated it as a waste of money.
 
In office has found most of the money was already spent, so there wasn’t anything worth saving by cancelling the Census, or any practical way of simplifying it. Last week in a written answer in the Commons he rather grudgingly conceded it had to go ahead, while implying it had nothing much to do with him.
 
“The current advice from the ONS is clear” his answer to Kerry McCarthy MP read (Hansard, 26 July). “Census alternatives are not sufficiently developed to provide now the information required to meet essential UK and EU requirements. It is therefore important that the census goes ahead in England and Wales on 27 March 2011. ONS must do all it can to ensure it is a success.”
 
So who’s responsible? Recite after me...
 
By the way, anybody who’s ever been involved however peripherally in local activities is likely to be hearing from Capita, the company responsible for recruiting Census volunteers. I used to help run a windmill in Kent (honest) and I’ve had a letter asking me to help “spread the word”. That explains the picture. But I’m going to tell them ONS is in charge.