§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of their wish to encourage more entrepreneurship and business start-ups, why the number of small business closures rose by more than 5 per cent last year. [HL5100]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe number of businesses that registered for VAT increased, from 174,600 in 2001 to 175,800 in 2002.
The reason why deregistrations have risen is not clear.