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100-522: Merriott is a village and civil parish in Somerset , England, near the town of Crewkerne and 7 miles (11.3 km) west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,979. On Church Street, there is a well-preserved tithe barn , which is used by local organisations including the playgroup, badminton club and a Morris dancing side (Dr Turberville's Morris). The village

200-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with

300-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of

400-442: A UK-wide census in 2021 should take place, and that better use should be made of other demographic data sources. The general style of the questionnaire was similar to that of the 2001 census . A rehearsal questionnaire was released in 2009. Several new identity and status options were included for the first time. Other changes for 2011 included: In 2001 only 38 people were reported to have been prosecuted for refusing to complete

500-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed

600-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of

700-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have

800-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in

900-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under

1000-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as

1100-501: A co-ordinated research project known as Beyond 2011 . The objectives of the programme were to assess the feasibility of improving UK population statistics using integrated data sources to replace or complement existing approaches, and whether alternative data sources could provide the priority statistics on the characteristics of small populations typically provided by a census. The project reported its findings in March 2014 and recommended that

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1200-568: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by

1300-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving

1400-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until

1500-714: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. United Kingdom Census 2011 The Office for National Statistics

1600-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself

1700-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by

1800-667: A questionnaire. In 2011 those who refused to complete the census questionnaire or included false information could face a fine of up to £1,000. A team of compliance staff were recruited to follow up by visiting those householders who refused to complete a questionnaire or where their questionnaire was not returned or completed correctly. Advertising promoted the notion of how the UK 2011 census would help to shape Britain's future in areas such as healthcare and education. TV adverts, for example, depicted Origami , in census colours, forming objects including school computers and buses. A short sentence under

1900-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have

2000-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it

2100-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below

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2200-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at

2300-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there

2400-425: A written answer in response to a question on population and the traditional enumeration methodology of the 2011 census, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: The UK Statistics Authority is responsible for carrying out the census in England and Wales. The board of the authority has expressed the view that the 2011 census should be the last conduction on the traditional basis. Through the ' Beyond 2011 ' project

2500-427: Is a success. Although some 37,000 people recorded their identity as Cornish by manually writing it on the form in the 2001 census, no tick-box was provided in 2011 to select Cornish as a White British national identity, despite campaigns. As a consequence, posters were created by the census organisation and Cornwall Council which advised residents of how they could identify themselves as Cornish by writing it in

2600-439: Is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through

2700-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been

2800-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have

2900-612: Is home to Merriott Rovers F.C. who play in the Perry Street and District League , spanning Somerset, Dorset and Devon. Also situated in Merriott is Budgens an all-purpose food store. It has one pub : the 17th century King's Head The parish boundary includes the River Parrett which is crossed by the Bow Bridge. Next to it is Bow Mill House, with its attached watermill which dates from

3000-447: Is it?". It contended that by placing the religion question near the ethnicity question it would encourage some responders to associate religion with cultural identity. The BHA also ran adverts during March 2011 encouraging the use of the 'no religion' box in the questionnaire. The 2011 census for Northern Ireland had 59 questions in total. 14 were about the household and its accommodation and 45 questions were for each individual member of

3100-554: Is more than twice the £210m spent on the 2001 census. This breaks down to a cost of 87 pence per person, per year (over the life of the census – ten years). "The cost equates to about 87p a year per person, demonstrating excellent value for money. The per capita costs in the UK are less than for many other European countries that carry out similar censuses. In summary, this census will meet crucial requirements for statistical information that Government and others cannot do without." Minister of State, Cabinet Office ( Angela E. Smith ). Both

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3200-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In

3300-637: Is responsible for local planning and building control , local roads, council housing , environmental health , markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling , cemeteries and crematoria , leisure services, parks, and tourism . Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education , social services , libraries , main roads, public transport , policing and fire services , trading standards , waste disposal and strategic planning. The village falls within Eggwood electoral ward . Merriott

3400-561: Is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority , a non-ministerial department formed in 2008 and which reports directly to Parliament. ONS is the UK Government's single largest statistical producer of independent statistics on the UK's economy and society, used to assist the planning and allocation of resources, policy-making and decision-making. ONS designs, manages and runs the census in England and Wales. In its capacity as

3500-640: Is the most populous area but the ward stretches to Dinnington in the west. The total population for this ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,421. It is also part of the Yeovil county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The Anglican parish Church of All Saints dates from

3600-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt

3700-742: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were

3800-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with

3900-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as

4000-687: The Scots language alongside the question for ability in Scottish Gaelic and English languages. Responsibility for the release of data from the 2011 census is split between the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The ONS announced in March

4100-620: The Stop the War Coalition , and the Christian thinktank Ekklesia . The groups were concerned about sharing data with a company involved in surveillance and data processing for the CIA and FBI ; and also providing funding to an arms company making nuclear missiles and cluster bombs. The Green Party also objected, and campaigned unsuccessfully to stop Lockheed Martin getting the contract, although no decision

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4200-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or

4300-687: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007

4400-406: The national statistics office for the United Kingdom, ONS also compiles and releases census tables for the United Kingdom when the data from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are complete. In the run-up to the census both the main UK political parties expressed concerns about the increasing cost and the value for money of the census, and it was suggested that the 2011 census might be

4500-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of

4600-568: The 13th century, with modifications in the late 15th or early 16th century, and major restoration including the extension of the nave , a new chancel and chapels by Benjamin Ferrey in 1860. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building . [REDACTED] Media related to Merriott at Wikimedia Commons Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It

4700-534: The 17th century. Tail Mill was used for sail cloth manufacture. The name Merriott means boundary gate from the Old English Maergeat . The manor was held at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 by Harding son of Eadnorth whose descendants took the name of the village and continued until the death of Sir John de Meriet in 1391. The good quality of the soil led to the development of market-gardening, with

4800-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until

4900-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from

5000-468: The 2011 census. NISRA, ONS and GROS each publish a schedule stating what documents they will release and when. Those documents are called a "prospectus". Each prospectus is not fixed, but changes as schedules are changed or documents are late. The prospectuses are linked to in the table below. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for publishing United Kingdom wide 2011 census data. These are co-ordinated releases coinciding with data published by

5100-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In

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5200-715: The ONS, covering England and Wales, confirmed that there would be four stages of data release starting in July 2012 and running until October 2013. This was increased to five stages in October 2013. A detailed commentary accompanies each release along with relevant reference materials. Additionally there will be graphic visualisations providing further clarification and comparison between different data sets and comparison over time using data from earlier censuses. There will also be more specialist reports and products. Certain data bases will also be produced in

5300-701: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) was formed by merging the Central Statistical Office (CSO), OPCS and the statistics division of the Department of Employment; the first census it ran was in 2001. In 2008 the UK Statistics Authority was established as an independent body. A population census is a key instrument for assessing the needs of local communities. When related to other data sources such as housing or agricultural censuses, or sample surveys,

5400-892: The Royal Mail and Ordnance Survey national address products. People could complete and submit their questionnaire online, or fill it in on paper and post it back in a pre-addressed envelope. Guidance was provided online and through the census helpline. Completed questionnaires were electronically tracked and field staff followed up with households that did not return a questionnaire. Special arrangements were made to count people living in communal establishments such as; boarding schools, prisons, military bases, hospitals, care homes, student halls of residence, hotels, royal apartments and embassies, as well as for particular communities; rough sleepers, travellers and those living on waterways. In these cases field staff delivered and collected questionnaires and, where needed, provided advice or assistance in completing

5500-576: The UK, along with UK historic population pyramids (1951–2011). Key and Quick statistics Part 1 – Census Profiles; Population, People and Places, Health and Social Care, Travel and Transport. National and Local Authority geographies. Key and Quick statistics Part 2 – Census Profiles; Qualifications and Labour Market. National and Local Authority geographies. Key and Quick statistics Part 3 – Multivariate, Local and Detailed Characteristics tables for: Living arrangements; Household composition; and Accommodation type. A series of further releases, subsequent to

5600-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from

5700-432: The authority has been considering alternative ways of obtaining information that has been traditionally gathered via a census. The current advice from the ONS is clear. 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

5800-479: The census is used to provide statistical outputs which central government uses to plan and allocate local authority services funding, and which local authorities themselves use to identify and meet the needs of their local communities. Other organisations that use census data include healthcare organisations, community groups, researchers and businesses. The questionnaires, including people's personal information, are kept confidential for 100 years before being released to

5900-467: The census logo informed the viewer that the census was a duty that must be undertaken. From 7 April 2011 advertising focused on reminding people to complete and return by post or submit online. A question about the number of bedrooms a household has, as well as the names, gender and birth dates of any overnight guests was criticised as "bedroom snooping" by the Conservative Party in opposition. In

6000-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such

6100-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to

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6200-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had

6300-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced

6400-414: The council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with

6500-453: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London

6600-528: The data becomes even more useful. Most countries of the world take censuses: the United Nations recommends that countries take a census at least once every ten years. Twenty-one out of 40 countries in Europe are engaged in the 2010–2011 census round The design for the 2011 census reflected changes in society since 2001 and asked questions to help paint a detailed demographic picture of England and Wales, as it stood on census day, 27 March 2011. Data collected by

6700-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been

6800-552: The district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council. The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of South Somerset , which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , having previously been part of Chard Rural District . The district council

6900-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In

7000-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and

7100-496: The ethnicity, national identity and main language sections. Additionally, people could record Cornwall as their country of birth. During the consultation on the 2011 census the British Humanist Association raised several concerns about question 20, "What is your religion?". The BHA argued it was a leading question , and suggested that it should be phrased as two questions, "Do you have a religion?" and "If so, what

7200-455: The first census of Great Britain's population, and was responsible for the ten-yearly reports published between 1801 and 1831. During the first 100 years of census-taking the population of England and Wales grew more than threefold, to around 32 million, and that of Scotland, where a separate census has been carried out since 1861, to about 4.5 million. From 1911 onwards rapid social change, scientific breakthroughs, and major world events affected

7300-442: The first use in England of the word nursery ( noresire ) occurred at Merriot in 1369. The parish was part of the hundred of Crewkerne . Major rebuilding took place in the village following a fire in 1811. The school building dates from 1876, and now incorporates the former Sunday school which was built in 1834. The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover

7400-441: The four main releases of 2011 Census statistics including migration tables, workplace tables, detailed religion and ethnic group tables, and statistics relating to alternative population bases. Specialist products would include:- Small population groups; microdata; flow data (also known as origin-destination statistics). It is also suggested that data organised around alternative population bases may be produced. The original plans of

7500-638: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making

7600-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from

7700-424: The household to complete. The rehearsal was held on Sunday 11 October 2009 in two areas, Derriaghy and Moy & Benburb, covering approximately 5,000 households. The 2011 census for Northern Ireland costing around £21.8 million over the six-year period 2008–2014. Over the ten-year cycle the cost is expected to be about £25 million. In Scotland, a wholly owned subsidiary of information technology company CACI

7800-415: The last decennial census to be taken. The first results from the 2011 census, age and sex, and occupied households estimates for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, were released on 16 July 2012. The first results for Scotland, and the first UK-wide results, were published on 17 December 2012. More detailed and specialised data were published from 2013. The Registrar General John Rickman conducted

7900-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by

8000-459: The main UK political parties had expressed concerns about the rising costs and value of a ten-yearly census, and on coming into office the UK coalition government had gone as far as suggesting that the 2011 census might be the last of its kind. In July 2010 the UK government asked ONS to explore other methods of measuring the population. In 2011 the three national statistics bodies, ONS, GROS and NISRA set up

8100-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of

8200-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays

8300-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as

8400-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally

8500-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of

8600-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As

8700-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in

8800-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on

8900-491: The public, providing an important source of information for historical, demographic and genealogy research. The 2011 census for England and Wales included around 25 million households. Questionnaires were posted out to all households, using a national address register compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with the help of local authorities through comparisons of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and

9000-541: The questionnaire. There was a legal requirement to complete the 2011 census questionnaire, under the terms of the Census Act 1920 . As at 27 March 2011 everyone who had lived or intended to live in the country for three months or more was required to complete a questionnaire. Failure to return a completed questionnaire could lead to a fine and criminal record. Lockheed Martin UK , the UK arm of US-based aerospace , defence , security , and technology company Lockheed Martin

9100-455: The release plan for the results of the 2011 census which stated in July 2012. NISRA made a similar announcement with identical release plan. In June 2012 GROS advised on its release plan which commences in December 2012. The releases will comprise data sets enabling the standard comparison with previous census data reports as well as over a hundred new data sets based on the new questions asked in

9200-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of

9300-555: The structure of the population. A fire that destroyed census records in 1931, and the declaration of war in 1939, made the 1951 census hugely significant in recording 30 years of change over one of the most turbulent periods in British history. The 1971 census was run by the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), a body formed by the merger of the General Register Office and Government Social Survey. In 1996

9400-417: The systems" used to process census data, but that "in essence ... neither Lockheed Martin UK nor any Lockheed Martin employee will have access to personal Census data." The Office for National Statistics stated that no personal census information will ever leave the UK or be seen by any American-owned company. Several groups called for a boycott of the census over the involvement of Lockheed Martin, including

9500-446: The three national statistical authorities. Population data including data for males and females for the United Kingdom and revised estimates England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Population numbers (rounded), by five-year age bands, sex and densities and household sata at national and local authority level. Population estimates (unrounded) by single year of age and sex for the UK and all local authorities (or equivalent) in

9600-537: Was awarded the contract to provide services for the census comprising questionnaire printing, a customer contact centre and data capture and processing. The contract was valued at £150 million, approximately one third of the total £482 million census budget. Concerns were raised during contract negotiations that the US PATRIOT Act could be used to force Lockheed Martin to reveal census data to US authorities. The Cabinet Office state that Lockheed Martin will "develop

9700-422: Was contracted to gather information. CACI "provided interrogators who worked at Abu Ghraib prison at the height of the prisoner abuse scandal". The 2011 Scotland census asked 13 household questions and up to 35 questions for each individual. Plans were rehearsed in west Edinburgh and Lewis and Harris . The 2011 census was the first to include a question asking about the ability to read, write and understand

9800-407: Was laid before Parliament in October 2009 and was approved by Parliament and became law in December 2009. Capita Group was contracted by ONS to recruit, train and administer the pay for the 35,000 temporary ONS workers who worked as field staff for the 2011 census. The total cost of the 2011 census in England and Wales over the period from 2004/05 to 2015/16 is estimated to be £482 million. This

9900-418: Was made about whether or not to call for a boycott. The Census Alert campaign group also decided against calling for a boycott. Liberal Conspiracy said a boycott would be counter-productive, as the census is used to distribute funding to local services. Liberal Conspiracy reports that a council may lose £22,000 over 10 years for each person who does not complete the census. The census for England and Wales

10000-560: Was trialled in 135,000 households in Lancaster , the London Borough of Newham and Anglesey on 11 October 2009. A test was also carried out in Birmingham at the same time. The questions for the 2011 census were the same as those trialled in the 2009 Census Rehearsal. The Order for the 2011 Census (including the proposed question topics, census date and who should complete the questionnaire)

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