Dear Ed,

I am writing to request an exemption to the 9:30am release time relating to the first release of Census 2021 data on the population of England and Wales. We have not yet confirmed the release date for this publication but wanted to confirm the principle of the timings with you so we can be as open and transparent with users as possible.

This exemption to the release time from 9:30am to 11am will allow us the necessary time to lay the results in the UK Parliament, and present them to the Welsh Parliament, as we did for the 2011 Census, and in line with the Census Act 1920. This process requires printed copies of the census bulletin being laid with the relevant parliamentary offices. This exemption means we can ensure equality of access to the information for all users on the day of publication, while meeting our obligations to Parliament and within the Census Act.

With this in mind, I ask that we publish online at 11am, and would be grateful for confirmation you are content to grant this exemption.

Yours sincerely,

Jennet Woolford
Director, Health, Population and Methods Transformation