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Written question asked by Lord Garnier (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 December 2005. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Monday, 16 January 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Business Closures (East Midlands)

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) post offices, (b) bank branches, (c) independent retail shops and (d) police stations have closed in each calendar year since 1997 in (i) Harborough constituency and (ii) the East Midlands Government office area.
Answer

The information is as follows.(a) Post officesDecisions on post office closures are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I understand from the company that the numbers of net closures are as follows:Harborough constituency"2002–03: 1 net opening""1 net closure""4 net closures (including three under urban reinvention programme)"Constituency closure data are not available prior to financial year 2002–03.East Midlands region"38 net closures""31 net closures""108 net closures""90 net closures"Regional closure data prior to financial year 2001–02 are not available. Closures in 2003–04 and 2004–05 include closures under the urban reinvention programme.(b) Bank branchesThe number of local bank branch closures is not available.This is a matter for each individual bank, but my officials have checked with the British Bankers' Association, the Financial Services Authority and the Office for National Statistics. None of them are able to provide the number of bank closures.(c) Independent retail shopsVAT de-registrations for retail businesses¹ in Harborough constituency and East Midlands Government office region, are shown as follows for 1997 to 2004.

VAT de-registrations in the retail sector(10)
Harborough East Midlands
1997 45 1,540
1998 25 1,490
1999 35 1,465
2000 30 1,425
2001 30 1,300
2002 30 1,320
2003 35 1,400
2004 35 1,420
Source: Small Business Service figures based on data from the ONS Inter Departmental Business Register.
(10) Standard Industrial Classification 52.

(d) Police stationsInformation provided by police forces for police stations opened and closed in Harborough constituency and East Midlands Government office region, are shown as follows for 1997 to 2004.

Leicestershire East MidlandsGovernment office area
Op Cls Op Cls
1997 3 0 6 6
1998 2 2 2 25
1999 3 3 6 6
2000 2 0 4 0
2001 0 0 3 1
2002 1 1 3 3
2003 3 3 4 7
2004 0 0 1 2
(11) Harborough figures are included within Leicestershire.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
38841; 441 c944-5W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Closures Banks East Midlands Post offices Shops Retail trade Leicestershire Police stations
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk