§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new businesses have been registered in(a)London and (b)Wales, broken down by local authority, in each of the past three years. [158037]
§ Nigel Griffiths[holding answer 3 March 2004]:The official measure of business start-up activity in the UK is VAT registrations. However, businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold which has risen in each year since 1997. Only 1.8 million out of the estimated 3.8 million enterprises in the UK were registered for VAT in 2002.
Value Added Tax (VAT) registration data are available up to 2002. Data for 2003 will not be available until autumn 2004.
VAT registration rates per 10,000 resident adults (aged 16 and over) are shown to allow fair comparisons between areas. The numbers and rates of business registering for VAT in each London borough and Welsh unitary authority, in each calendar year are as follows:
1505W
VAT registrations Number Rate per 10,000 resident adults 2000 2001 2002 2000 2001 2002 Islington 1,380 1,245 1,230 97 84 82 Kensington and Chelsea 1,330 1,025 1,095 105 74 78 Lambeth 920 895 925 43 40 42 Lewisham 640 640 575 33 32 28 Newham 605 580 550 34 31 29 Southwark 1,135 1,110 975 59 55 48 Tower Hamlets 1,115 1,025 1,005 75 65 62 Wandsworth 1,200 1,200 1,180 56 53 52 Westminster 5,455 4,925 4,775 360 304 288 Outer London 16,415 15,420 15,270 47 43 43 Barking and Dagenham 390 365 335 31 29 26 Barnet 1,865 1,540 1,515 76 60 59 Bexley 600 620 545 35 36 31 Brent 1,205 1,125 1,040 59 52 47 Bromley 960 970 955 41 41 40 Croydon 1,005 985 1,000 39 37 38 Ealing 1,250 1,205 1,195 53 49 48 Enfield 900 820 875 42 37 39 Greenwich 545 510 510 33 30 29 Harrow 935 905 930 57 54 55 Havering 640 640 615 36 36 34 Hillingdon 875 760 840 46 39 43 Hounslow 820 880 825 49 51 47 Kingston upon Thames 620 580 560 53 48 46 Merton 780 685 615 52 44 39 Redbridge 860 760 725 46 40 38 Richmond upon Thames 995 920 1,010 72 65 71 Sutton 510 525 510 36 36 36 Waltham Forest 665 625 660 39 36 37 Wales 6,310 5,985 6,110 27 26 26 Isle of Anglesey 125 125 135 23 23 25 Gwynedd 290 260 285 31 28 30 Conwy 265 230 240 30 26 27 Denbighshire 205 220 200 28 29 26 Flintshire 345 330 365 29 28 31 Wrexham 255 235 240 25 23 23 Powys 420 360 390 41 35 38 Ceredigion 170 185 185 27 30 29 Pembrokeshire 305 270 270 34 30 30 Carmarthenshire 405 370 420 29 26 30 Swansea 450 475 430 25 26 24 Neath Port Talbot 190 200 195 18 19 18 Bridgend 250 255 235 25 25 23 The Vale of Glamorgan 285 235 310 30 25 33 Cardiff 800 775 790 33 32 32 Rhondda Cynon Taff 355 350 355 19 19 19 Merthyr Tydfil 75 70 55 17 16 12 Caerphilly 240 250 265 18 19 20 Blaenau Gwent 90 70 75 16 13 14 Torfaen 150 140 120 21 20 17 Monmouthshire 270 275 260 40 40 38 Newport 305 290 275 29 27 25 Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service.