I WOULD like to encourage all readers to think carefully about the question on religion in the upcoming 2011 Census.

The results of the question are used by Government, local authorities and service providers when deciding how to run services and create policies.

Many people in the last Census ticked the “Christian” box, perhaps because they were christened in one particular denomination, yet do not hold Christian beliefs, go to church or identify as Christian in any meaningful way.

Ticking “Christian”, rather than “No religion”, has influenced central and local government policy.

This has led to an increase in divisive and discriminatory faith schools, which the majority of the population are against, huge amounts of money for “faith groups” in local areas and the appointment of “faith advisers” to government departments.

I strongly urge readers who do not practise or strongly identify with any particular religion to tick the “No Religion” box in the Census on March 27.

In the previous 2001 Census, only 15 per cent of residents in this area identified themselves as non-religious.

However, countless other surveys (eg, natcen.ac.uk) show that there are many more nonreligious people in the UK that are not being properly counted.

As the 2011 Census may be the last one ever held, it is doubly important that policy can be based on accurate statistics.

David Brindley Adlington