Every household in Sutton can secure £6000 for local services by taking part in the census.
Census questionnaires are now being delivered to homes across the country and Sutton Council is appealing to residents to complete their form to ensure vital funds are retained for services in their area.
Every ten years the Office for National Statistics (ONS) carries out a census to find out more about the people who live in England and Wales, and about the make up of local neighbourhoods.
The Government uses the results of the census to quantify how much funding they provide to each area. But the council fears an inaccurate count could see it miss out on millions in Government grants because its funding is calculated on population.
The count will take place on Sunday 27 March after questionnaires are sent to approximately 25 million households to complete, including around 78,000 in Sutton.
Cllr Graham Tope, Sutton's Executive Member for Community Safety, Leisure and Libraries, said: "This is your chance to protect services in your area. By completing and returning your census form you can play a big part in retaining vital government funding for resources in your borough.
“Every household registered in the census is worth around £6,000 in government funding so all applications successfully returned really can make a difference.
"The census will also help us plan better and focus our services where they are most needed, especially for the vulnerable and hard to reach communities.
“With cuts to Government grants already heavily affecting our budget this year, it has never been more important for everyone to take part.”
A total of 93 per cent of households in Sutton completed the 2001 census. This was 10 per cent above the London average and only one per cent below the national figure.
Council chiefs are keen to match or better this performance because the way council understands its population and designs its services - and the amount of funding the council, the NHS, police and other public services receives - depends on the population counted during the census.
The 2001 count recorded the borough's population as 179,667.
It is now estimated by the ONS that Sutton's population has risen by more than 10,000 to more than 192,000 – an increase of 5.7 per cent.
The council is encouraging everyone in the borough to fill in their census form. But it will target in particular the "hard to reach" groups like students and people aged over 80, who number more than 12,000 and make up six per cent of the borough's population.
All details are kept confidential, personal details will not be made public for 100 years under current rules and the data will not be used by other government departments.
Questions are asked on a number of topics including work, health, national identity, citizenship, ethnic background, education, second homes, language, religion and marital status and apply to everyone living or staying in the household on 27 March
Posted on Friday 11th March 2011