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Census (Return Particulars and Removal of Penalties) Act 2019

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Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
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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.