Thousands of unpaid carers in Swindon are living in households that meet the criteria for health deprivation and also don't have access to a car or van. 

New figures using data from the recent census which took place on March 21, 2021 and published by the Office for National Statistics show the reality for 1,644 households in the town. 

A household is classified as meeting the criteria for health deprivation if any person has general health that is bad or very bad or is identified as disabled.

People who have assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses are considered disabled.

In Swindon, there are 14,246 households with at least one unpaid carer, and 11.5 per cent of them are households with health deprivation and lack of mobility due to not having access to a car or van. 

Swindon compares favourably to many places with a better percentage than Cardiff, Cheltenham and many of the London boroughs where a third of unpaid carers are in the same situation. 

It is also worth noting that the census was done over two years ago, and since then the economic climate has worsened considerably with the cost of living crisis in full swing, so it is likely that this number has increased.