Letter: False alarms over grants and census figures

Sir: In 'Confusion in census linked to poll tax', Rosie Waterhouse (1 October) refers to local authority concerns about the implications for grant distribution of the latest 1991 census figures. The figures to which she refers derive solely from the census and have not been adjusted in any way. Grants to local authorities and health authorities are calculated not from the census figures, but from my mid-year population estimates. The census figures are the starting point for these estimates, but I also use information from other sources to adjust for under-enumeration in the census.

The mid-1991 estimates for local authority areas in England and Wales will be published later this month.

Yours faithfully,

P. J. WORMALD

Registrar General for England and Wales

Office of Population Censuses and Surveys

London, WC2

1 October