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PRIME MINISTER
Honours
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether (a) his Office and (b) members of the general public are able to identify numbers of honours recipients by postcode; and if he will make a statement. [185271]
The Prime Minister: Details of honours recipients, including postal addresses are held centrally for administration purposes. However, full postal addresses are not made publicly available.
Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister what future role in security and intelligence matters he intends to give the Cabinet Secretary. [185635]
The Prime Minister: The Butler Review makes no specific recommendation on this point. Existing arrangements will continue.
Cyprus
Tom Cox: To ask the Prime Minister when he last visited the Republic of Cyprus; and which Cypriot politicians he met during that visit. [185017]
The Prime Minister: I have not visited the Republic of Cyprus.
Iraq (Briefing Papers)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister who commissioned the briefing papers on Iraq, referred to in paragraph 610 of the Butler Report; who decided not to circulate them to Cabinet Ministers; and for what reason. [185634]
The Prime Minister: Material on a range of issues related to Iraq was commissioned by the Cabinet Office Overseas and Defence Secretariat. The resulting papers were circulated to the Departments involved.
Iraq (Intelligence)
Adam Price:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether (a) the head of MI6 and (b) the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee were informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting in July 2003 from a source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable; [185688]
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(2) whether (a) members of the Cabinet Office and (b) the Intelligence and Security Committee was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting in July 2003 from a source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable; [185689]
(3) whether members of (a) his and (b) Cabinet Office staff were informed in July 2003 that the Secret Intelligence Service in that month had withdrawn reporting from a source who claimed that the production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable. [185788]
The Prime Minister: We have nothing further to add to the remarks that were made in yesterday's debate on Iraq.
Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister when he was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting from the source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable. [185690]
The Prime Minister: As my Official Spokesman made clear on 16 July, it was as a result of the Butler Review.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Business Link
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the market penetration of business link operators. [185454]
Nigel Griffiths: Business Link Operators were used by around 606,000 customers in 2003–04 comprising 435,000 existing firms (representing a 40 per cent. growth in use by existing firms between 2002–03 and 2003–04) and 171,000 pre-start businesses. Expressed as a ratio of the Inter-Departmental Business Register of around 1.8 million firms (the largest official count), this is a market penetration rate of 34 per cent. in 2003–04.
A more detailed table is provided:
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing Businesses(4) | 14 | 17 | 24 |
| Pre-starts(4) | (5)n/a | (5)n/a | 10 |
| Total customer usage | — | — | 34 |
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| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing Businesses | 245,342 | 309,665 | 435,293 |
| Pre-starts | (5)n/a | (5)n/a | 170,749 |
| Total customer usage | — | — | 606,042 |
(4) Rate per 100 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses.
(5) Pre-start users not available as an annual figure prior to 2003–04.
Business Regulations
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the levels and cost of regulations imposed on business by her Department since 1997. [185536]
Nigel Griffiths: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 5 January 2004, Official Report, column 124W.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new regulations her Department has introduced in the last year. [185537]
Nigel Griffiths: The number of statutory instruments (Regulations, Orders and Rules) introduced by the Department in 2003 was 145. A listing of DTI statutory instruments produced between 1991 and 2003 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
During 2003 they include: The Enterprise Act 2002 (Commencement No. l) Order 2003, The Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2003 and The Insolvent Companies (Disqualification of Unfit Directors) Proceedings (Amendment) Rules 2003.
Business Start-ups
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there were in each year since 1995, broken down by industry. [185331]
Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start ups in England and Wales in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before.
DTI figures based solely on UK VAT registrations by main industry group are shown as follows for the period 1995 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in Autumn 2004.
Source:
Business Start-ups and closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php
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VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1995. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.
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