STEPS are being taken to make sure the next census for Southend is accurate and the council secures the funding it is entitled to.

The issue of preparing for the 2011 census was raised by Southend West MP David Amess in Parliament after the 2001 census was labelled inaccurate by Southend Council.

The authority said the census had underestimated the number of people living in the borough, which meant the area missed out on an estimated £7million of funding to run its services.

In the debate, Mr Amess asked the Office for National Statistics if it could cope with the number of postal returns for the census. He also asked if there would be an appeal process in place if the census figures were thought to be wrong.

Mr Amess told Parliament in the debate he wanted “fairness and fair treatment for our constituents”.

He said: “Sadly, however, the last census served the constituents of Southend extremely poorly and the repercussions were so serious our constituents suffered a £7million funding shortfall.

“As a result of the shortfall in funding, Southend Council had to cut bus services and all manner of things because we were £7million short.

“Putting the past behind us, however, I can tell the minister Southend has already set up a cross-sector census group chaired by the interim head of policy and improvement.

“We have a communications strategy, beginning this year, to educate the public about the survey.”

Mr Amess also said there was a problem with recording the number of immigrants in the town for the census.

He added: “A big issue in Southend is the town contains many people from eastern European countries who, for all sorts of reasons, seem reluctant and frightened to return the census forms.

“An accurate census is essential if Southend is to get a fair share of the money available for essential local services.”

Southend East and Rochford MP James Duddridge also said the people of Southend were shortchanged by the last census.

He said: “As a result of the 2001 census, the people of Southend are being ripped off and I am very concerned about things, despite the preparations for the 2011 census.”