§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what her estimate is of the number of jobs lost in small businesses as a result of foot and mouth disease; [17677]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of businesses that will be lost in the next 12 months as a result of foot and mouth disease. [17679]
(3) how many small businesses have had to cease trading because of the effects of foot and mouth disease. [17678]
§ Nigel GriffithsThe DTI, Small Business Service and DEFRA have not made estimates of the numbers of jobs lost; the number of businesses that will be lost in the next 12 months; or the numbers of businesses that have ceased trading in the small business sector as a result of foot and mouth disease. It would be difficult to arrive at such figures, given that in many cases there will be a number of factors influencing a decision to reduce the size of a business or to cease trading, for example prospects for an individual business prior to the foot and mouth outbreak.