§ Mr. MacshaneTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the number of new businesses started up by year and region since 1990. [4709]
§ Mr. PageThe best indicator of regional trends in business start-ups is given by figures on VAT registrations. Annual numbers of registrations for 1990 to 1994 are given in the table.
VAT registrations 1990–94 Thousands Region 1990 11991 1992 21993 21994 South East 95.7 81.9 74.2 79.1 78.9 East Anglia 8.5 7.5 6.4 6.8 6.6 South West 20.2 17.4 15.6 15.9 15.7 West Midlands 19.1 16.6 15.8 15.6 15.5 East Midlands 15.4 13.5 12.1 12.3 12.3 Yorkshire and Humberside 17.1 15.1 13.6 13.6 13.3 North West 24.0 21.0 19.2 17.7 17.4 North 8.3 6.9 6.2 6.3 6.4 Wales 10.2 8.4 7.5 7.2 7.2 Scotland 16.3 13.9 12.7 12.6 12.8 Northern Ireland 4.3 3.7 3.7 4.0 3.9 United Kingdom 239 206 187 191 190 Notes:
1 Includes an adjustment for effect of change in the VAT threshold in the 1991 budget.
2 Includes an adjustment for effect of change in the VAT threshold in the November 1993 budget.
Following the threshold change in 1991, figures for 1992 to 1994 are not comparable with the figures for earlier years.