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I am here today to seek your approval of the amendment census order that will change the date of the census to March 2022. Let me make it clear that the decision to move the date of the census was not taken lightly.
It is about preventing fraud from occurring and, as I said, it is about preventing people from making mistakes and about forcing people to think about data that they have submitted and whether it is up to date and accurate or needs to be changed.
An example from last year, or the year before, is that there was quite a lot of debate about use-by dates and best-before dates and whether we should get rid of them.
Occasionally, if people are moving house, flat-sharing or moving around, their address might not be up to date. However, for the larger proportion of people—90-plus per cent—we are confident of having up-to-date address information.
But why is the figure only £6.7 million on 1 April in the year 2021-22, and more than £66 million on the same date a year later, when the net funds appear to be pretty similar?
The interim director general could not come to the second meeting as you had requested but said that he could come to another one and tried to get alternative dates. That was one instance and that is the explanation.
What engagement are you having on the freeport projects—if, for example, there was a need to change the five-year transaction date? How is that engagement happening?