No prosecutions for failing to return Census forms

No-one has been prosecuted for failing to return Scottish Census forms, it has been revealed.

People who did not fill in details about everyone who was in their home on census night were warned they risked being taken to court and fined up to £1,000.

However, despite the threat, almost 300,000 people failed to complete the forms on time, even though the deadline was extended by more than a month.

Final figures published by National Registers of Scotland show the completion rate was 86.6 per cent – far short of the 94 per cent needed for the information-gathering exercise to be considered a success and 10 percentage points below the response rate in the rest of the UK.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has confirmed that no prosecutions were being pursued. A spokesman said: “We can advise that no cases have been reported to COPFS from National Records Scotland at this time.”