Catalogue description Office of Population Censuses and Surveys: Computer Division: Registered Files (CD Series)

The head of the Computer Division was appointed in April 1972 with the division itself being set up that October. The establishment of the division followed the 1970 Kingdom Report produced within the OPCS, which recommended changes to provide a more effective service from the computer facilities which were overloaded with work. Though the demand for computer facilities doubled between 1973-1977, the division was hampered by a shortage of trained staff and equipment throughout the 1970s. Despite disputes with the Civil Service Department over the number of branches and the rank of staff to be employed, the Computer Division (CD) initially established six branches: Planning, Resource, Staff Development and Standards, Service, Production and Development. These were organised on a functional basis and each branch was headed by a manager. The division was located at Titchfield in Hampshire.

The division was restructured in 1974 and had an influx of staff from other OPCS divisions. In 1975 the Computer Users Group was set up, chaired by the Deputy Director of the OPCS. It aimed to take the burden of computer concerns away from the Registrar General of the OPCS. Further reorganisation followed the 1977 Job Satisfaction exercise. The changes gave the Computer Division a structure which was more topic orientated than function orientated. As a result the Survey Branch based in London, along with the Census and the Statistics branches were established to service the requirements of particular divisions within the OPCS.

By 1982 the division had eight branches: Planning Group, Survey, Production, Staff Development and Standards (SD and S), Methods, Census, Technical Development and Statistics. Of the remaining functional branches, Methods and Technical Development were important in successively preparing the division for technological changes, The Production Branch handled day-to-day output and the Service Branch responded to changes in OPCS needs and priorities.

In 1989 the Computer Division was put into the operations group of the OPCS under the deputy director and was renamed the Information Technology Division.