Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 March 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 April 2004. It was answered by Nigel Griffiths (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 April 2004 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many small businesses are registered in Crosby; and what the percentage change has been since 1997. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses are registered in Crosby; and what the percentage change has been since 1997. [164412] Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation, published on 31 March 2004, includes non-VAT registered firms, and shows that there were 115,000 business start-ups in England and Wales, including 500 in Sefton local authority (in which Crosby is a constituency) in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly Barclays figures show 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003, the highest figure since the survey began in 1988. Data for local authorities are not available for before 2003. There were 5,380 businesses registered for VAT in Sefton local authority at the end of 2002. This represents a 7 per cent increase since the start of 1997 when there were 5,040 VAT-registered businesses. VAT registration data for the end of 2003 will be available in Autumn 2004. It is important to note that VAT registration data do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.

Secondary information