§ 27. Mr. KhabraTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations his Department has received from chambers of commerce about his policies in respect of and the demand for the products and services of small businesses. [21968]
§ Mr. PageMy Department has regular contact with the Association of British Chambers of Commerce and individual chambers, and discussions with them frequently concern the valuable contribution made to our local economies by small businesses.
Dr. John CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the success rate of small businesses between 1985 and the present in(a) Cumbria, (b) the United Kingdom and (c) the European Union as a whole. [22734]
§ Mr. HeseltineA measure of the success of the small business sector is shown by the growth in the number of VAT registered businesses. Allowing for the change in the VAT threshold in 1991, the number of VAT registered businesses in Cumbria rose by 7 per cent. between 1985 and 1993, the latest year for which figures are available. In the UK as a whole it rose by 14 per cent.
There are no equivalent figures for the European Union as a whole.