To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State, Department of Health on 11 June 2009, Official Report, column 976, on carers, what the basis is of his Department's estimate of the number of carers in England. (285939)

The main source of information that the Department uses for the number of carers is the 2001 Census.

Nomis, a web-based database, run by the university of Durham on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, shows that there were 4.85 million carers in England.

We recognise the importance of having up-to-date information on carers. That is why we have recommended to Parliament that a question on carers is included in the 2011 Census. This will provide a 10-year comparison with 2001 for the number of carers in each local area and the number of hours of care they provide.