I am filled with wonder at the operation of the 2021 census. I think it discriminates against two kinds of people: those who find information technology hard to handle, and those who cannot afford to buy computers, laptops or smart phones.

The census requires everyone to make their returns online, though you can order a paper form - if you do so online. In desperate cases you can ring a helpline and order a form, no doubt at the cost of waiting in a long queue.

What the census office could have done, but didn’t, was include a card in each mailshot that could be sent back to request a paper form.

The census is important, and so one might expect the census office to make it easy and cost-free to complete.

That would only be true of the new census if absolutely everyone had the means and the ability to work online. But I think this assumption is unwarranted. I foresee that some people will struggle to make their return, and the overall census returns will be less complete than they should be. And they may be biassed towards the computer-literate.

David Martin, Rosedale Avenue, Acomb