§ Mr. GeorgeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many small businesses have gone out of business in(a) the west midlands and (b) Walsall metropolitan borough council since 1987.
§ Mr. LeighThe best available guide to trends of businesses comes from VAT data. During the period end 1986 to end 1991, 74,700 businesses left the VAT register in the west midlands region. In the same period, 93,500 businesses joined the VAT register.
The latest available figures down to county and local authority level are for the period end 1986 to end 1990. In this time 28,700 businesses left the register in the county of west midlands and 2,700 left in the Metropolitan borough of Walsall. The number of businesses joining the VAT register were 35,500 and 3,300 respectively.