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Main Content: Carers keep being counted
Carers of sick and disabled people have won their battle to keep a question on caring in the 2011 census. Treasury Minister Angela Eagle has today confirmed that money has been made available for an extra page of questions that had been under threat.
A question on caring responsibilities was included for the first time ever in the 2001 Census and has led to unprecedented, reliable knowledge both locally and nationally about carers.
Today’s announcement was warmly welcomed by Carers UK who have been running a campaign, Keep Counting Carers, which has involved the support of carers, politicians, academics and researchers.
Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK said “This is fantastic news and down to the hard campaigning of carers, MP’s and academics. We can’t underestimate just how critical it is to have a question on caring in the census. Thanks to the information we gathered from the 2001 census we know that caring is an issue that affects millions of families across the UK. The census provides the best opportunity to get hard evidence on how we can support carers.”
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Carers has been active in backing the campaign. Chair of the Group Dr Hywel Francis MP said ‘This is great news for the six million carers and their Carers organisations led by Carers UK. I would like to thank all parliamentary colleagues who in great numbers signed my Early Day Motion on this important matter as well as all the carers organisations throughout the country who participated in the campaign. The information on carers in the 2011 Census will be very important to implement the Prime Minister’s new national Carers Strategy.”
Carers UK's Keep Counting Carers campaign more...