Alderney census requete is lost by a single vote

ALDERNEY States members last night blocked a bid to hold a census in the island, despite a groundswell of support at the People's Meeting.

The States voted five to four against a requete to investigate what a census might cost, with one member branding the motion 'Luddite'.

The petition came after Guernsey decided to jettison a traditional paper census in favour of a rolling system harnessing population data from States departments.

Paul Arditti (pictured) drafted the requete and argued that it was 'risky' to abandon the tried and tested formula of census in favour of the radically different 'data capture and periodic sample surveys' system at the heart of its replacement – especially, he added, at a time when Alderney found itself in such a precarious financial position.