§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what are the latest figures relating to business failures in building and construction; and how these figures compare with each of the past five years.
§ Mr. FletcherThe latest figures for insolvencies in the construction industry in England and Wales are for January/September 1984. They are as follows, together with figures for the same period of 1983 and for each of the last five complete years:
Bankruptcies* Company liquidations† Years: 1979 832 789 1980 783 949 1981 922 990 1982 988 1,422 1983‡ 1,180 1,776 January/September 1983 ║617 1,216 1984 ║498 1,313 * Bankruptcies relate to sole traders and partnerships. † Compulsory and creditors' voluntary liquidations. ‡ On 1980 Standard Industrial Classification from here. Only differences from 1968 SIC used for 1979–1982 estimates is that opencast coal extraction and hiring out of contractors' plant and scaffolding are now excluded. ║ Bankruptcy figures by industry for parts of a year are often incomplete.