The information requested falls within the remit of the UK National Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what estimate has been made of the number of public houses which have closed in each of the last 10 years for which figures arc available; and to make a statement. (261070)""Annual statistics on business births, deaths and survival are available from the ONS release on Business Demography. Data on business deaths is only available back as far as 2002 in this series. The table below contains the count of enterprise deaths of public houses for 2002-2007." Table showing counts of Enterprise 'deaths' within Public Houses SICs for the years 2002-07 Standard Industrial Classification 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 55402—Independent public houses and bars 5,530 6,775 6,875 6,175 5,300 5,260 55403—Tenanted public houses and bars 2,150 2,610 2,950 2,590 2,310 2,340 55404—Managed public houses and bars 130 200 255 315 345 350 Total 7,810 9,585 10,080 9,080 7,955 7,950