Ward digest

Guidance notes

The 2001 Census data is available for various different geographical levels. These range from national and regional down to local authority and health authority, then to electoral ward (current and historical as at 2001) and postcode sector. The smallest level is the Census Output Areas (OAs), artificial areas created for the purpose of processing and analysing the raw data. A typical OA has about 100-125 households.

To provide the Council and local organisations with data for the 2004 ward areas, it has been necessary to re-process Census data into the new geographies. Data from a number of Output Areas has been combined to produce the 2004 Ward and Greater Town figures, and in many cases, an Output Area has been divided between wards. There may be minor differences between figures in this Digest and those available from ONS for the 2004 wards, as ONS has decided not to split Output Areas between wards.

Confidentiality adjustments

Certain sets of Census output have been subject to adjustment by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to protect confidentiality. This process - known as small cell adjustment - particularly affects tables where small numbers appear, and small geographical areas. It means that totals built up either from small areas or tables with many small numbers, may be different from the 'total' provided in the Census table, or the total available from other sources.

In producing this Digest, it has been necessary to obtain data from different types of Census output - the Univariate Tables, Key Statistics, Census Area Statistics and Census Area Theme Tables.

Totals and percentages

The combination of small cell adjustments and of re-processing the Census data into the revised ward areas means that in a number of tables the numbers do not exactly match the appropriate total. Percentages are calculated on the basis of the left hand column of figures, or a second 'total' column in some tables. Percentages do not always total 100.0, for the same reasons. Whilst these discrepancies are regrettable, they are unavoidable given the nature of the Census data, and do not produce any significant differences.

As far as possible, overall totals in the left hand column are consistent - they should be identical to the same column elsewhere in the Digest.

England and West Yorkshire data

For reasons of space, and the because the actual numbers are of little relevance, data for England and West Yorkshire is provided in the form of a total figure, and in subsequent columns only the percentages are shown.