SASPAC

2011 UK Output Area Classification Consultation

saspac — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:10:11 +0000

The ONS are working with the University College London to develop a new UK Output Area classification (OAC) using the 2011 Census data. This will update the 2001 classification previously produced by the University of Leeds.

A user engagement exercise runs from 17 February to 30 March 2012 and is aimed at users of the 2001 OAC but also relevent to anyone interested in social area classifications, involving geodemographics and neighbourhood classifications. For more information and a copy of the User Engagement form visit the ONS website.

If you would like to see some of the initial work that has been undertaken by Chris Gale, a UCL research student whose PhD is focussing on creating this new Output Area Classification, then please click here.

ONS Analytical Products Workshop

saspac — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:28:20 +0000

ONS are running a 2011 Census analytical products workshop on 21 March 2012, 10-3 at Britannia Hotel, Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3LA. This will be the same as the previous workshop held in London back in October last year (the materials from which can be found here) and will deal with ONS’ current proposals for 2011 Census analytical products. If you are interested in attending email katy.taylor@ons.gov.uk, places are on a first come, first served basis.

SASPAC v9.50 now available

saspac — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:10:21 +0000

The SASPAC team are pleased to announce the release of v9.50 to software members. This version is available as a full installation package and downloadable from our website (user passwords are available from the helpdesk). This new release includes:

Web Services Wizard (WSW) application
GSS Coding and Naming integration
Windows 7 compatibility
software updates (v9.05, 9.06, 9.07)
bug fixes

The WSW application is a ‘proof of concept’ development that utilises the same online technologies the Census Offices will be using to publish 2011 Census results. In preparation for 2011 data, development to build a new interface and data management system is underway.

We will keep users posted with our progress (software previews, developing functionality, help with testing, pre-release access) through this blog and recommend subscribing by adding your email address to the box on the right of this post. ‘Tweeters’ may also follow us Twitter.

ONS Roadshow Q&As

saspac — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:35:29 +0000

ONS have published the Questions and Answers (pdf) from the September Operations to Outputs roadshows. Responses to the 122 questions covering topics including: the address register, field operations, online services and outputs.

In addition to the ONS response to Q117:

“What is happening with SASPAC (Small Area Statistical Package) data?“

The ONS response was: “SASPAC is a separate body to ONS. We are working with them and they will continue to get census data.“

We can add that SASPAC is indeed a partner working with ONS to help them develop the online data delivery systems and are in the process of developing a new SASPAC application to access the 2011 outputs. Interested users can keep up to date with progress reports and development activity through this site and by registering your email address in the menu to the right of this blog.

2011 Census ‘Standard Theme Tables’

saspac — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:06:51 +0000

Mock table layouts for the 2011 Census Standard Theme Table outputs have been published by ONS. These include 19 tables that represent detailed cross tabulations focused on a specific theme such as migration, ethnicity or dependant children. Table layouts are broadly consistent with their 2001 equivalents but there are also an additional 10 Theme tables proposed which focus on new topics such as ‘year of arrival’ and ‘national identity’ (published back in October). A direct link to the downloadable zip file on the ONS website is here or the page containing all the proposed tables here.

ONS Census Newsletter

saspac — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:42:57 +0000

The December Census Newsletter has been published by ONS. This aims to keep partners up to date with developments and progress towards delivering the 2011 outputs. Highlights from this issue are:

the 2011 Census output prospectus/timetable will be released in March 2012
a Census toolkit to assist in the promotion of the outputs is planned for spring 2012
local authorities are urged to submit council tax data to assist with the Census QA process
comments on the recent special outputs workshop materials are required by 17 December

To register to receive these updates directly, forward your contact details to 2011.Census.LA.Liaison@ons.gov.uk. ONS expect to produce these every 2/3 months.

2011 Census ‘Standard Tables’

saspac — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:02:19 +0000

Mock table layouts for the 2011 Census Standard Table outputs have been published by ONS. These represent the detailed cross tabulations from the Census and will be available for ward/SOA geography and larger areas. 126 table layouts are available in an Excel format but these do not include proposed new tables or the Standard Theme Tables ONS also plan to produce. A direct link to the downloadable zip file on the ONS website is here.

ONS 2011 Census workshop materials

saspac — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:28:04 +0000

ONS have published the materials and Q&As from the Oct/Nov workshops relating to the specialist 2011 Census outputs. Some of this are available from the ONS website but you may also download these as zip files below.

- Small population outputs (24/10/11)

- Analytic products (25/10/11)

- Origin & Destination products (26/10/11)

- Microdata products (11/11/11)

NRS Census update

saspac — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:53:51 +0000

Highlights from the NRS (National Records of Scotland) Census update provided to the Population and Migration Statistics Committee (PAMS) in Scotland are below. One significant announcement from the report was that Scotland do not now expect to release the first Census outputs (age, sex by Local Authorities) until autumn 2012. Originally this data was going to be available in July – as far as we are aware ONS and NISRA still plan to publish in July.

Other issues where:

- Census Questionnaire processing will be completed by the end of November (2011)

- downstream processing systems are faces challenges due to loss of key staff and IT issues; these are likely to delay the first Census results to the autumn of 2012

- any revisions to the proposed census tables should be submitted by the end of December

- a prototype dissemination system – successor to SCROL – will be released in early 2012

2011 Workplace Zone Geography

saspac — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:53:08 +0000

For the 2011 Census outputs ONS are proposing a new geography of workplace zones (WPZ) for the publication of workplace statistics. In 2001 the Output Area (OA) hierarchy (produced on a household/residential population threshold) was used but this caused problems in areas with very few or large numbers of workers; the resulting workplace populations varied between 0 and 80,000. The production of WPZ hierarchy propose to improve the outputs available by merging and splitting 2011 OAs so they contain a minimum workforce of 100 person. Other features are:

coverage will be across England & Wales (no plans curently for Northern Ireland or Scotland to introduce WPZ)
WPZ will not cross Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs)
workforce population will exceed the workforce of any single large workplace (625 workers or more) by adding at least 99 other workers
headcount and headcount flows (area of residence to workplace) will be available for OA/WPZ geographies

More details on the ONS proposals can be found in a recent ONS paper and ongoing consultation on the 2011 outputs produced can be found on the ONS website.