MPs unanimously passed legislation yesterday that intends to remove a potential stumbling block for the National Census.

The Statistics Amendment Act 2010, tabled by Premier Paula Cox, allows the Premier to extend the deadline for the census without needing to seek approval from the House of Assembly.

While the census was originally scheduled to be completed by August, a shortage of interviewers and a reluctance of interviewers to go into certain areas caused delays.

However, once the August deadline was reached, all work had to halt until the Premier received approval from the House of Assembly.

Premier Ms Cox said that the new legislation would allow the Premier to extend the deadline of any national census to prevent future delays should a deadline be reached.

Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said that while it is normally in the best interest of the Opposition to make sure decisions are made in the House, in this case the change was a sensible one.

“It’s just a practical move,” he said. “It’s virtually impossible to argue against.

“We need to get things done and I will forward in that spirit.”

PLP MP Glenn Blakeney said the legislation was a necessary measure based in the reality of the situation, while Shawn Crockwell, of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, said that he would support any measure that increases efficiency.