§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many new business start-ups there were in rural areas in the United Kingdom in(a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, 2000 and (f) 2001. [15909]
§ Alun MichaelData on business start-ups in rural areas are not readily available. Information on VAT registrations for the year ending April 2000 indicates that there were 41,540 registrations in rural England. Information on earlier years is not available.