 The next item of business is a statement by Angus Robertson on Scotland's census 2022. Members will be aware that there has been some media coverage today prior to this item of business, stating that the deadline for completion of the census will be extended by four weeks. This is a significant and important piece of information, which members would rightly expect to hear in this chamber first. I have met with the Minister for Parliamentary Business and I have asked for an explanation of how and why it is the case that this information is already in the public domain. The Scottish Government will carry out a thorough investigation and will report back to the Parliament. There is further information in the statement that is not covered in the media reports. I will therefore allow the statement to be delivered in the interests of optimising scrutiny on this subject, which affects every household in the country. However, I am sure that members share my dismay, yet again we are using valuable parliamentary time addressing the inappropriate advance sharing of part of a Government statement. That being the case, and given the information already publicly available, I will allow the cabinet secretary a reduced five minutes. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. Colin Angus-Robertson I begin with a full-sum apology that news of this announcement found its way to the media ahead of this statement. We take this very seriously and have commissioned an internal leak inquiry, which will be led by the Scottish Government's chief information security officer. They will liaise with the lead officials to determine who had access to this information and to check our data systems to see if the source of the breach can be identified through government systems. Since this day in Scotland was 20 March 2022, I am pleased to note that well over 2 million households have already submitted their response. I would like to extend my thanks to all those households who have provided a response prior to the deadline. Your participation in this once in a decade exercise is hugely appreciated. To date, 77.2 per cent of Scottish households have provided a census return, a substantial figure with everything happening in the world right now. I understand that many people may be dealing with other concerns. Recent world events have caused anxiety for many and have remained a focus for the media quite rightly in recent weeks. Closer to home, people are still dealing with the impacts of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis. Given these challenges, I appreciate another ask of people is difficult. However, I cannot stress enough how important it is for the Government to hear the voices of the remaining 604,000 households who are still to return before the deadline of Sunday 1 May. That figure also includes many thousands of people who have begun the census online but have not yet completed it, and the thousands of others who have requested a paper copy but have not yet returned it. That is why I am announcing today that national records of Scotland will now continue to accept census returns until the end of May. In support of that, we will provide an additional budget investment for this year of up to 7 per cent that amounts to £9.76 million of the programme costs. That will allow the census collection period to continue for four weeks to give everybody the opportunity to complete Scotland's census and allow all outstanding returns to be captured so that everybody's voice can be heard. To be effective, a census requires a high response rate and one that captures the diversity of our communities and their needs appropriately. I would like to reassure members that this is a valuable further investment. Research shows that for every £1 or equivalent that is invested in a census, it generates £5 to £6 of broader economic benefit. From the 14 February significant multi-channel awareness campaign was launched, including social media, radio and television advertisements. This has continued throughout March and April reminding people of the importance of completing their census. There has been continued help to complete the census available on the website census.gov.scot or via the free helpline on 0800 030 8308. As of the 25 April, over 700,000 calls have been made to the contact centre with over 260 language interpretations offered. Field staff have now undertaken over 988,000 household visits in Scotland, providing in-person support to those who may need it. Households have also received a range of information through the post, including an initial contact letter, a census postcard, a first, a second, a third reminder letter and a final targeted postcard and two reminder letters for those who have started not finished their census online. An extension to the census collection period has occurred internationally. Countries including Poland, Japan and the United States of America have all taken similar steps in recent years to ensure maximum participation. England and Wales also extended their enumeration of some specific communal establishments for a period of three to four weeks in their 2021 census and Northern Ireland continued to accept returns after the deadline. An extension to the census collection period remains illegitimate and often used process to facilitate engagement with the census process. Scottish Government announced a decision to move Scotland's census to 2022 following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This decision was not taken lightly and it remains the right decision. I am now here to make another important intervention to ensure that we deliver the benefits that are required for the people of Scotland. Every household must complete Scotland's census. In addition to being a civic responsibility, completion of the census is also a legal responsibility, as it has always been for previous censuses. Failure to meet this responsibility can result in prosecution, which could lead to a criminal record and a fine. However, the shared focus is and must be on ensuring that people are supported and encouraged to complete the census. Help will remain available through May by visiting the census website or calling the free helpline. Completing the census enables better decisions about things that matter to us all. It is essential that we maximise participation and ensure that everyone is heard and their needs are captured. It is vital that we secure as high a response rate as possible so that the census can be effective in delivering its many benefits for future public services. For those who have already completed their census, thank you. For those who are still to do so, I would urge you to act now. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members who wish to ask a question were to press their request to speak buttons now. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement. Let me be clear that the SNP Government's handling of Scotland's census has been nothing short of disastrous. Needlessly delayed by a year, costing taxpayers an extra £30 million and, as of today, around a quarter of households in Scotland still to respond. The SNP ignored our calls to hold a census in sync with the rest of the UK when it would have benefited from the UK-wide publicity campaign, a campaign that managed a 97 per cent response rate. Despite our warnings, the SNP insisted on going it alone and delayed the census till this year, claiming at the time that this would ensure the highest possible response rate. However, we learned today that the opposite is true. That all represents a significant failure by the Scottish Government, which will have serious long-term implications for public policymaking. Can I ask the cabinet secretary? Does he accept that it was a mistake to delay the census? Can he guarantee that there will be no further delays beyond the end of May? What support is being given directly to councils to get the census back on track and urgently boost the response rate? First, can I welcome the acknowledgement by Donald Cameron and the Conservative Party about the importance of the census and successfully completing the census? Can I also put on record the positive co-operation that he and spokespeople from other parties have given to promoting participation in the census? Underline the key message from today is for everyone who has yet to complete and submit census returns. I am pleased to do so as soon as possible. I have already addressed a number of the questions that he asked in succession. Was it a mistake to hold the census on an appropriate date, not in the middle of the pandemic? No, that was not a mistake. Will there be no further delays? No, I do not believe there will be further delays. In terms of council support, which I think is the most constructive element of Donald Cameron's intervention, it is right to say that there is a variance in the rate of returns in the census in different parts of the country. He can rest assured, as can members across the chamber, that there are very specific interventions, especially in council areas where there are lower rates of return, and just giving one example of that. The targeting of enumerators to conduct their work, especially in areas where there are lower rates of return to make sure that those can be maximised in the present time and in the weeks ahead. I agree that the census is absolutely vital to planning ahead by the Scottish Government for services that our constituents need and for the councillors that are going to be elected next week to tackle inequalities in our communities. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what work was done to analyse the impact of not using a paper response form in relation to people who are not digitally connected to the length of time it took for people to get through on the phone to get a paper copy, and for people simply not to get round to it because there wasn't a paper copy distributed to everyone? Can he say what work was done to analyse the response rate and the timescales compared with previous years to have avoided today's last-minute decision to extend the timescale, potentially incurring nearly £10 million in the process? I know from concerns raised from within the system that there were numerous problems with outsourcing, IT, recruitment and accessibility raised for some time now. Can I ask why the process was outsourced from local authorities to per temps, a recruitment agency? What measures were taken to account for Airbnb's and other temporary accommodation so the entire process was more cost-effective? As the cabinet secretary has said, some houses will have got multiple letters at envelopes, census notification cards and reminders, all of that rather more than an envelope of the form. As the cabinet secretary has told us, there are thousands who have started but not yet completed the digital form, and there will be enumerators now having to tour our communities. Would the higher rates that we have seen in previous years have been achieved if we had all simply been sent a paper copy at the start? Sarah Boyack asks a long series of questions. Forgive me if I do not answer any of them. I will endeavour to write back and answer any specific questions that I am not able to do. Given that we are in the process of delivering the census, I welcome the tone and content of Sarah Boyack's statement in questions. She too has been a strong voice for participation in the census. With the continuing promotion and participation of MSPs of all parties, I am confident that we will help to boost numbers considerably in the days ahead. On the issue of digital versus paper returns, she and other members will be aware that this is the first census that has been significantly focused on trying to maximise digital returns. It is running on about 90 to 10 per cent. 90 per cent of returns are via digital means, 10 per cent by paper returns. Anybody and everybody who would wish and prefers to do a paper return can do so. One of the elements that she emitted in her questions related to the rate of return from people who have been issued paper returns. This is one of the lessons that we are having to learn as well. We are trying to understand this right now. The issue of non-returns or non-returns before the first of May deadline, and obviously we still have a number of days until then, is not just in relation to digital technology. There are literally tens of thousands of people who have been sent. Any numbers of written interventions encouraging them to take part have gone as far as to order a paper census copy and haven't yet returned it. We can all consider the different reasons why that might be the case. I think that Sarah Boyack points to something quite important here, which is that we need to get to the bottom of why it is that people who have been repeatedly encouraged in paper form, in house visits and so on have not yet. We are going to have to better understand that. Research is on going and is being commissioned to try and understand that better. She will understand that we are in a golden hour now where there is going to be heightened awareness of census return. Now is the time for us to send the messages loud and clearly as we can to people out there who have yet to return their census return. Please do it. Now is the time. There are many lessons to be learned, and Sarah Boyack has pointed to some of them. In particular, some of the points that she was making about who is conducting different bits of the process, I would be most welcome to have any detail that she might have on areas where it is apparent to her that there are shortcomings in the process. Obviously, if it is possible to do census collection in the future within a defined timescale, that is eminently preferable to having to extend, but as I have already pointed out, extending the census deadline is something that is becoming ever more than norm in a number of countries, including other nations on these islands. Fulton MacGregor, to be followed by Sharon Dowey. For the benefit of people at home or who may watch this later, who have not completed the census yet, can the cabinet secretary take the chance to outline how completing the census benefits people in Scotland and how it aids policy making? Fulton MacGregor, for his question, the census is incredibly important because it takes place only every decade, every ten years, and it is the official count of every person, every household in the country. Scotland has relied for more than 200 years on the information that the census provides. It remains the best way to gather vital information which government, councils, the NHS, a range of users in the public, private and third sectors need, and the results help local authorities, businesses and the Government plan a wide range of vital public services to improve the lives of those living and working in Scotland. All the more reason for any people who are wondering why it is so important for them to return their census that they should do so in the days ahead and not delay. We are doing everything that we can to drive up the numbers of participation in the census 2022. So anybody who is listening to our deliberations has a better understanding now why it is so important and I would appeal to everybody to take part in the census as a matter of priority. Sharon Dowie, to be followed by Jackie Dunbar. England and Wales, who held their censuses as normal, have seen high levels of returns. In fact, they saw a 97 per cent return rate above the expected target of 94 per cent. Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Scottish Government has over 600,000 outstanding households, a staggering 23 per cent of the population, and has had to extend the deadline by a month. This is just the latest in a long line of SNP communication failures. My colleague Maurice Golden warned the SNP of this impending disaster at the time, but he was ignored. Clearly, the current approach isn't working, so what further incentives and targeted support is the Scottish Government offering to respondents? First, I don't know if the member was in at the start of the statement where I pointed out that even in the census she was here, so she will have heard that in the census in England and Wales that she cites. She will be aware now that there was an extension in that census for institutions. These are issues that are not specific to Scotland and the wider list of other countries who have also had to make use of it. The point 2, which is more important, is what targeted measures can be used to ensure that people have an awareness of the deadline, that people understand that they have a legal requirement to take part in the census, and that there are potentially serious consequences for not taking part in the census. One of the reasons for extending the period is that I would far prefer to encourage people to take part. They still have the days until 1 May. I would prefer people to do it before 1 May, but even if we were doing that, and this is the reason for the extension, we would not be reaching the targets that are required. That is why the time period has been extended. I would be happy to write to her—I do not have enough time now—to go through the full list of interventions that are under way that are taking place. She can take it from me. We are doing absolutely everything that we can to try to help drive it. I would encourage her and her colleagues, many of whom write columns every week. There is plenty content here for the next four weeks to encourage their readers and their supporters to take part in the census to make sure that it is as representative as possible. I look forward to reading all of their columns, with great interest in the weeks ahead. Jackie Dunbar, to be called by Martin Whitfield. To ask the cabinet secretary how many people have started their census returns online, but not yet completed them. Cabinet secretary. This is one of the really interesting and curious aspects of the census process that we are trying to understand at the present time. Approximately 68,000 people have started the census online and not completed it. People may have different understandings of why that has taken place. The National Regist of Scotland estimates that about 600,000 households have yet to return a completed census. The good news is that, so far, over 2 million and 45,000 households have returned their census. One of the jobs that we are having to do is to encourage those people who have started the census to finish the process and check that you have clicked send that you have submitted it. Equally, those people who have started the process on a paper version of the census, please make sure that you submit it. To everybody else who has not yet started, please do so as a matter of priority. To pursue the last question slightly, my understanding, admittedly from subjective evidence, is some people who have started it online have struggled to get back into their census application because of the problem with the passwords, but have indeed now started a fresh new one, which they managed to complete in a single sitting. Is the Secretary of State confident that we do not have duplications of figures both in those who have not been returned and those who have been returned, in fact, by the same person? Martin Whittle has a very important question, and it is one that I have been asking for confirmation that there is no chance that there is duplication. I am assuming that everybody here has submitted their census. I hope that they have. Is aware that there is a code, an individual code that is related to a household, point 1. Point 2, is it theoretically in an IT sense possible for somebody to submit with the same code? I do not believe it is. It is obviously one of the things that can be and will be looked at. The issue of IT is a wider one. He made the point about subjective information, and he concedes that it is subjective that some people have had IT challenges. No doubt, we all have IT challenges with all kinds of systems, and that is why I would wish to take the opportunity that if anybody has any question about anything relating to their submission, that they call the census hotline, where they can explain, they can help, they can support the number again, 0800 030 8308, or visiting the census website on census.gov.scot. Please, can we use every opportunity that we can to explain to people that it is actually not a complicated process? It does not take a lot of time, but please get it done, and if anybody has any problems, and there are all kinds of people who have linguistic issues, IT related, we know this, which is why there are a whole series of interventions and support measures in place, please use them so that we can complete the census successfully. Christine Grahame to be followed by Rose Greer. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary will recall that I previously raised the issue of the census question on the use of Scots, which some constituents found unclear, and quite rightly, Cabinet Secretary directed me and others to look at the guidance, which is helpful. If I could just ask him to repeat some of the languages that come under the umbrella of Scots so that people know what to put in and for Jackie Dunbar's thing, Doric is included. Cabinet Secretary. Indeed, the census 22 question helps respondents to say that it is up to them to decide whether they and those they are responding for can understand, speak, read or write Scots and to select all that apply. The question help also states that Scots is spoken all over Scotland, it's the collective name for Scottish dialects such as Glaswegian, Doric Buck and Dundonian, Shetland and many others. Again, as I said to Martin Whitfield, where respondents remain unsure about this or any other question, please visit the website, call the helpline and there's also audio clips. On the www.icam.com website related to Scots as well. So there's lots of information out there, there really is no reason why people shouldn't be able to have the information that they are required or that they require to complete the census. Ross Greer, to be followed by Evelyn Tweed. I'd like to seek some advice from the cabinet secretary on what support is available for those with a hearing impairment to complete the census. Given the correlation between hearing impairment and older age and the correlation between that and lack of digital access, there's a group of people in Scotland including a number of my constituents who have contacted me who are unable to receive support either online or via the advice line. Cabinet secretary. Ross Greer, it's a very good question. The national records of Scotland have ensured that people are able to access a range of help and support to help them do so. This includes individual question help, advice on how to complete the census online, mechanisms for ordering paper and individual questions and specifically language and accessibility, support in British Sign Language, easy read, audio, braille, large print and translated guidance in language. In addition to that, census field staff providing further face-to-face support as required. If anybody needs that kind of support, please avail themselves of it. It is there, people are there to help. Please don't feel you're alone. If you have any of those impairments, get the support and complete the census. We want everybody from all parts of Scotland with all kinds of lived realities to be reflected fully in the census and that includes people who have impairments that Ross Greer rightly highlights. Evelyn Tweet, we followed by Maurice Golden. Not everyone will be able or wish to complete their census online. Can the cabinet secretary advise how someone can request a paper copy? Cabinet secretary. The simple answer to that, I think I've mentioned it a number of times now, is to call the helpline to ask for a copy to be sent. I should say, and this is in part in reflection to a question earlier from the Conservative benches, one of the mitigations and interventions that is taking place is that a significant number of print copies of the census are being sent directly to households that are not requested but have also not taken part in the census thus far. Not only can people order them to call the helpline to get support but they are also being sent out by post to a significant extent. Maurice Golden, to be followed by Rona Mackay. The census once again shows the Scottish Government of a serious problem with public awareness campaigns such as interlinked fire alarms when nearly half of people did not install them on time and facts when a poll found only 1% of people could identify the meaning of all five letters. Why? Cabinet secretary. Maurice Golden asks a good question, given that households have received an initial contact letter, a postcard, an online reminder letter, a household reminder letter, a household gentle reminder letter, a household firmer reminder letter, an online reminder, an individual access code request information and a second internet access code request letter. Sorry, there are further publications. I could go on, Presiding Officer. Every household has received significant information about the importance of the census, the responsibility to take part and the guidance about how one might do it. We are having to communicate more because clearly for some people that has not been enough and we have to learn the lessons about why that is because it seems to me receiving so much information should. We would have hoped, would have been enough to inform people and encourage them to take part in the census but clearly it has not been enough and there are lessons that need to be learned about that. It is not just the direct communication that has been to household, there is a very significant public information campaign. He is right to say clearly there are people who have not heard that or have not responded and both things may be true. We do need to learn the lessons of that but I would point out to him the point that I made in my initial statement. This is not just a situation, a scenario that has been taking place in Scotland. It happened in England and Wales and an extension was deemed necessary there for certain classes of respondents and in a number of countries, including the United States of America, there was also an extension. There are lessons to be learned on that, no doubt, but it is not as simple as suggesting that for some reason there has not been enough public information, there has been a lot of public information. The question is why have people not responded in the way that one might have hoped and expected they would do so? Rona Mackay, to be followed by Douglas Lomstone. Following on from the last question, can the cabinet secretary confirm that community and stakeholder engagement will continue now until the end of May to promote Scotland's census? The simple answer is yes. One of the aspects of the census process in which a lot of weight has been invested has been the relationship with external stakeholders. I take the opportunity to thank the likes of Scotland's local authorities, the national health service and many others who have been trying to amplify the public information message about the importance of taking part in the census. As we move forward from the statement, there is an engagement process that is going to be rolled out about the extended period for census returns to make sure that all of our stakeholders and third party partners in promoting the census and the participation in it are going to play their full role in the next weeks ahead. That includes MSPs, as I have already said, across the chamber to make sure that the message is getting through to everybody and the understanding that we all must take part in Scotland's census 2022. I note that the cabinet secretary mentioned that an extra £10 million will now have to be spent on trying to get the census complete. Can the cabinet secretary explain which budget line this extra £10 million will come from? Will he apologise to the people of Scotland that, once again, the Government is over time and over budget? I take it from Duncan Lumsden that he is—Douglas, forgive me. I infer from his questioning that he is keen that the census is successful, that he is keen that it is completed, that he is keen that we reach the targets. On that basis, given the evidence that I shared with him and colleagues earlier about the value for money nature of the census, I think that it is money well spent to make sure that we complete the census, the money will come from the Scottish Government's budget. I would say to him that people within the national records of Scotland are working very hard to try to make sure that one does not need to draw down the full extent of the funding that has been allocated. That is in significant part why I am taking this opportunity repeatedly to say, please, can we all do as much as we can to make sure that in the parts of society that we reach in different ways that we encourage people to take part in the census? That is not a politicised exercise. That is about good public administration. The fact that there is cross-party support for the census, notwithstanding the tone of some interventions, I think that it is still the formal position of the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish National Party, that we all support the census. Given that we do, I would be grateful for his support and I look forward to reading his column in the weeks ahead on this very subject.