§ Simon Hughes:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the start-up rate was for small businesses in (a) each London borough, (b) London and (c) England in each year since 1997. [140854]
§ Nigel Griffiths:Value added tax (VAT) registrations and de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of start-ups and closures. These cover businesses of all sizes.
The rates of businesses registering for VAT in each calendar year from 1997 to 2002 in each London borough, London, and England, are as follows:
Number of VAT Registrations per 10,000 Resident Adults1 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 England 43 43 41 42 39 39 London 68 71 68 67 59 57 Barking and Dagenham 25 25 30 31 29 26 Barnet 94 91 76 76 60 59 Bexley 39 35 34 35 36 31 Brent 61 61 59 59 52 47 Bromley 45 48 39 41 41 40 Camden 159 158 150 142 112 110 City of London 2,212 2,228 2,200 2,345 1,653 1,428 Croydon 41 42 39 39 37 38 Ealing 56 56 52 53 49 48 Enfield 40 42 40 42 37 39 Greenwich 35 35 33 33 30 29 Hackney 72 83 78 81 65 63 Hammersmith and Fulham 77 96 84 94 85 75 Haringey 57 59 59 58 51 46 Harrow 58 64 55 57 54 55 Havering 40 41 36 36 36 34 Hillingdon 48 49 44 46 39 43 Hounslow 50 52 50 49 51 47 Islington 118 126 109 97 84 82 Kensington and Chelsea 98 102 106 105 74 78 Kingston upon Thames 60 63 55 53 48 46 Lambeth 43 45 44 43 40 42 Lewisham 34 36 34 33 32 28 Merton 52 56 50 52 44 39 Newham 33 37 35 34 31 29 Redbridge 45 50 46 46 40 38 Richmond upon Thames 72 75 70 72 65 71 Southwark 57 59 55 59 55 48 Sutton 43 44 39 36 36 Tower Hamlets 73 79 78 75 65 62 Waltham Forest 39 42 41 39 36 37 Wandsworth 57 60 61 56 53 52 Westminster 329 364 390 360 304 288 1Mid-year resident adult (16 and over) population estimates Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002 from the Small Business Service; population data from The Office for National Statistics For further information on the VAT statistics please see: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/vatstats.php