7.Throughout 1997, the Office for National Statistics conducted a consultation exercise among the census user community to ascertain the business cases and support for a range of topics that were being considered for inclusion in the 2001 Census. In summary, the criteria for accepting these topics were:
	that there was a clearly demonstrated need;
	that users’ requirements could not adequately be met by information from other sources;
	that they should be shown, in tests, to have had no significantly adverse effect on the Census as a whole, particularly the level of public response; and
	that practicable questions could be devised to collect data which is sufficiently accurate to meet users’ requirements.
8.The topics proposed for the Census in the White Paper were those that had been shown to be most needed by central and local government, the health service, academics, businesses and professional organisations. In each case, no other comparable and accessible source of the information is available in combination with other items in the Census. Consideration had been given to the public acceptability of topics and to whether or not questions could be asked in a way that elicits reliable answers. The cost of processing the answers to questions was also assessed in relation to the usefulness of the results. Finally, the overall length and layout of the Census form has been considered so that the burden on the public might be kept to an acceptable level within the overall objective of achieving optimum value from the Census.
Background Consultation with users