§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the questionnaire forms sent out to UK businesses by the Office for National Statistics in 2001; [48927]
(2) what estimate he has made of the amount of time taken by business to compile and return information requested by the Office for National Statistics in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [48925]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Whittingdale, dated 16 April 2002:
849WAs national Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions concerning statistical questionnaires sent to businesses by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). (48925, 48927)The time taken by business in 2001 to compile and return the information requested by ONS is estimated to be around 617 thousand hours. There were 1.57 million business inquiry forms despatched during this period. I attach below a table showing the periodicity and annual number of forms for each business inquiry conducted by ONS.Your third question (48926) asks for the split between (a) UK companies, (b) manufacturing companies and (c) distribution and services companies. To provide this will take a special analysis and a reply will follow.850W851W
UK statistical inquiries of businesses carried out by the ONS 2001 Statistical inquiry Frequency1 Number of forms in 2001 compliance year Investment Trusts Quarterly Return of Transactions Q 172 Investment Trusts Annual Return of Liabilities and Assets and Overseas Income and Interest Paid A 43 Monthly Inquiry to Credit Grantors M 290 Security Dealers Quarterly Return of Liabilities and Assets of Transactions in Securities Q 241 Security Dealers Quarterly Return of Income and Expenditure Q 241 Assets Financing Quarterly Return of Assets and Liabilities of Transactions Q 532 Asset Financing Annual Income and Expenditure A 137 Quarterly Inquiry into Insurance Companies: Long Term funds, Income and Expenditure Q 382 Annual Inquiry into Insurance Companies: Long Term Funds, Income and Expenditure A 140 Quarterly Inquiry into Insurance Companies: Long Term Transactions in Financial Assets Q 382 Annual Inquiry into Insurance Companies: Long Term Funds Balance Sheet A 140 Quarterly Inquiry into Pension Funds: Income and Expenditure Q 1,324 Quarterly Inquiry into Pension Funds: Transactions in Financial Assets Q 1,324 Annual Inquiry into Pension Funds: Balance Sheet A 331 Quarterly foreign direct investment—Outward: oil Q 1,497 Quarterly foreign direct investment—Outward: other Q — Quarterly foreign direct investment—Inward: oil Q 2,922 Quarterly foreign direct investment—Inward: other Q — Annual foreign direct investment: Outward A 786 Annual foreign direct investment: Inward A 1,797 Acquisitions and Mergers C/Q — Domestic acquisitions and mergers C/Q 2,570 Quarterly Inquiry into Companies GB Operating Profits Q 6,510 Quarterly Survey of Financial Assets and Liabilities Q 2,730 Quarterly Inquiry into International Trade and Services Q 2,800 Annual Inquiry into International Trade in Services A 6,180 Merchants Inquiry A 213 Annual Inquiry into International Transactions: Films and Television A 650 Survey of Business Enterprise Research and Development Carried out in the UK A 2,000 Dividends Inquiry including Pilot Q 4,824 ODI Proving AH 738 E-Commerce Transaction of UK Businesses A 9,000 Monthly Inquiry of Internet Service Providers M 1,200 Ship managers2 A 0 Distribution and service sector GB cinema exhibitors Q 64 Distribution and service sector—Monthly M 957,337 Distribution and service sector—Quarterly (GAPS) Q 27,390 Monthly retail trades inc. monthly self financed credit and monthly retail commodity inquiries1 M 58,089 Retail trades quarterly commodity Q 280 Product prices and sales sector Producer prices indices M 94,830 PPI Rotation M 3,110 Export price indices M 44,727 Import price indices (inc. import of capital goods) M 22,848 Corporate service sector price indices (inc. CSPI turnover inquiry) Q 18,375 PRODCOM Quarterly Q 13,786 PRODCOM Annual A 23,072 SERVCOM Q 2,017 Production sector Monthly production3 M 107,968 Motor vehicles production M 381 Engines production M 96 Quarterly—production capital expenditure M 96 Quarterly—non-production capital expenditure Q 127,498 Monthly production stocks Q 828 Quarterly production stocks (17) M 29,416 Quarterly construction stocks (16) Q 13,178 Quarterly retailers' stocks Q 17,678 Quarterly wholesalers' and dealers' stocks Q 16,050 Quarterly motor traders' stocks Q 6,637 Business spending on Capital Goods Survey Q 2,499 Capital Stocks Survey A 935 Register and proving Register Inquiry—Annual A 30,900 Register Inquiry—Other A 17,000
UK statistical inquiries of businesses carried out by the ONS 2001 Statistical inquiry Frequency1 Number of forms in 2001 compliance year Retail prices Retail Prices Index4 M 3,478 Annual business inquiry Employment A 75,604 Financial (including purchases) A Total 1,570,063 1AH = ad hoc; A = annual; Q = quarterly: M = monthly; C = continuous; W = weekly; 0 = other. 2The inquiry was not run in 2001. It will resume in 2002. 3Includes the collection of quarterly employment figures from existing inquiries. 4This covers only businesses that complete ONS forms and excludes forms filled in by local prices collectors employed by ONS. Notes:
1. STSD—Short Term and Structural Inquiries Division
EED—Earnings and Employment Division
SED—Socio Economic Division
NEI—National Expenditure and Income Division
OFD—Overseas and Financial Division
CPGID—Consumer Price General Inflators Division
BDD—Business Data Division
STOID—Short Term Outputs and Indicators Division