Small Businesses

HC Deb 19 June 1989 vol 155 cc15-6W

Mr. Barry Field

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what further steps he intends taking to reduce the burden of statistical form filling in small businesses.

Mr. Maude

I announced the publication of a scrutiny of the collection of Depatment of Trade and Industry statistics in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 10 May at column 435. The recommendations of the scrutiny will be implemented over the next three years and will reduce the costs to businesses of these inquiries by about a quarter. Many of the recommendations will further help to ease the burden on the minority of small firms who are currently approached in the inquiries.

DTI Ministers will continue to press to minimise the burden of inquiries on all firms so far as it can be done without reducing the quality of statistics needed by Government. In particular, objectives to this end will be agreed with the enlarged Central Statistical Office, which will assume responsibility on 31 July for running the inquiries now conducted by DTI.

Mr. Macdonald

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of manufacturing employment is in businesses of approximately less than 200 employees in the current year and each of the last 10 years; and if he will also give comparative figures, where the data is available, for other European Community countries.

Mr. Maude

The available United Kingdom information is as follows:

Percentage of United Kingdom manufacturing employment within local sites (factories etc.) with less than 200 employees
	Percentage
1989	48
1988	47
1987	46
1986	45
1985	45
1984	43
1983	41
1982	39
1981	n.a.
1980	n.a.
1979	37

n.a. Not available

Source: Size Analyses of United Kingdom Businesses (PA1003).

Figures for the European Community are available for certain countries solely for 1984, and relate to enterprises (companies etc.) with employment of 20 to 99 as a percentage of all enterprises with employment of 20 or more:

	Percentage
FR Germany	15
France	21
Italy	32
Luxembourg	14
Netherlands	29
United Kingdom	18

Source: EUROSTAT and United Kingdom census of production.