Census (Return Particulars and Removal of Penalties) Act 2019
Census (Return Particulars and Removal of Penalties) Act 2019
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Overview of the Act
Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.
The Census (Return Particulars and Removal of Penalties) Act 2019 provides for voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity to be asked in the England and Wales and Northern Ireland censuses. It does this by removing the criminal penalty for not responding to questions on these matters. It also clarifies the existing law that such questions may be asked. In the case of England and Wales only, this will lead to any such questions being subject to the draft negative Parliamentary procedure in future Census Orders.
Type: UK Public General Act
Year and chapter: 2019 c. 28
Royal Assent: 2019-10-08
Last ingested: 2026-06-12 from legislation.gov.uk. Acts commence section by section — check the official text for commencement orders.