Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many small businesses have opened in South Thanet in each of the last five years.

The Office for National Statistics publishes statistics on the number of enterprise “births” in Thanet in its publication Business Demography. A “birth” occurs when a business appears on the Inter-Departmental Business Register, following registration for either VAT or PAYE.

The following table gives “births” in Thanet for the most recent five years available.

2011 400

2012 390

2013 535

2014 525

2015 545

Data for 2016 is expected to be published later this year.