RESPONSE TO UK STATISTICS AUTHORITY ASSESSMENT NO 187,
“STATISTICS ON UK BUSINESS POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHY”
1.
BACKGROUND
The UK Statistics Authority assessment of UK Business Population and Demography
Outputs identified the need for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to liaise more closely and effectively with nongovernment users of these outputs. It was acknowledged in the assessment, that ONS had in
the past made considerable efforts to liaise with non-government users but because of poor
response and lack of feedback had recently ceased this work and focused instead on
government users via the GSS Business Register Group.
2.
NEW USER GROUP
As a direct response to requirement 1 in the assessment, ONS and BIS convened a Business
Population and Demographic Statistics (BPDS) User Group. This group was set up to
specifically engage with both government and non government users at the same time with
the intention of seeking their views and opinions about BPDS outputs and future
developments.
In setting up the user group, ONS, from its bespoke analysis service identified a range of nongovernment users and approached them to determine their interest in becoming members of a
joint BIS/ONS user group. Those that responded were invited to attend the first and second
BPDS User group meetings which were held in March 2012 and 2013.
Full terms of reference for the BPDS group which were agreed by attendees at that first
meeting and minutes of the first and second meetings can be seen in the links below:
Link to BPDS terms of reference (to be published on BIS/ONS website)
BPDS Terms of
Reference.doc
Link to minutes of the first and second BPDS meetings (to be published on BIS/ONS
website) can be accessed via the links below
BPDS User Group
minutes_ March 2012.doc
3.
BPDS User Group
minutes March 2013.pdf
USE OF ONS BUSINESS REGISTER OUTPUTS AND USERS VIEWS
ONS business register outputs are used extensively by central and local government, MPs and
private sector users for range of investigative, monitoring and planning purposes. The data
are also used by academia and regularly by the media who report on business start-ups and
closures as they consider this information to be an indicator on economic activities. The
products are generally used by those who wish to examine the numbers of businesses in
certain industries and or geographical areas.
A number of central Government departments use the outputs to inform, develop and monitor
the effects of new policies and the impact these might have. For example, the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE) use UK Business data to produce economic impact assessments and
for regional and local authority area targeting. The Government Equality Office is interested
in the numbers of businesses by sizes and use this information to carry out impact
assessments and subsequent analysis for example on gender equality and women’s
entrepreneurship for policy development and impact assessments. BIS use the data to produce
factual information releases and for briefing Ministers and journalists.
Data is also used by other Government departments to answer questions from policy
colleagues and to answer their own parliamentary questions. The devolved administrations in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also produce publications based upon business register
outputs. BIS also use the data as a starting point for their Business Population Estimates
(BPE) publication which extends coverage to include unregistered businesses, i.e. those not
registered for VAT or PAYE.
Local Authorities use business counts in local economic assessments and other development
type reports. They also use the publications when planning changes such as transport routes,
retail parks etc.
Consultancy businesses use the data as supporting material in reports, for example, whether a
new shopping centre should be built, developing strategies to attract specific businesses to an
area, etc. Data has also been used for planning of transport routes and for developing business
parks.
MP’s ask for information on their constituencies and surrounding areas, for example, counts
of businesses by industry over time, how many public houses or businesses or retailers have
closed down and how many businesses have started up, etc.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) use the data for
worldwide entrepreneurship indicators which enable their policy makers to identify which
countries are the most entrepreneurial and to learn lessons from the best performers.
Specific examples of how ONS products have been used by those government and nongovernment users who attended the first and second BPSD meetings can be seen below:
Informing general public choices
The Association of Certified Accountants use data to raise awareness of the Small and
Medium enterprise sector (SME), for impact analysis, modelling policy outcomes and SME
policy.
Government decision making about policies/decisions on programmes &projects etc:
GLA Economics use data relating to London to assess the impact of policies, business start
ups and registrations and as part of the London Mayor’s strategy for small and medium
enterprises in London. Data is also used in summary statistics, for presentations to the
London Enterprise Panel and for modelling purposes.
BIS use data on a daily basis to respond to and deal with numerous enquiries from other
government departments and the public.
The Government Insolvency Service use data regularly in the course of its daily work.
The ONS Regional Economic Analyses team use data to carry out spatial analysis and
monitor labour market movements in an advisory capacity for the Greater London Authority
(GLA).
The Government Equalities Office use Inter-departmental Business Register (IDBR) and BPE
data to produce impact indicators.
Dorset County Council use the statistics for economic developments analysis for small
geographical areas.
The Highlands and Islands Enterprise require breakdowns of Scottish business data by sector
and region and use UK Business: Activity, Size and Location as their preferred source.
The Scottish Government use BPE in tandem with IDBR extracts to respond to queries from
users in Scottish agencies and local authorities.
South Lanarkshire Council rely heavily on bespoke analysis from the UK Business, Activity,
Size and Location publication, with an emphasis on urban regeneration and development
strategy. Data provided by the Scottish Government is also used to compare information on
UK and Scottish data shown in the BIS and ONS publications.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) use ONS and BIS
publications to compare Northern Ireland data with that of other UK regions and to respond
to queries rasied by the Northern Ireland Government. Business Demography data is used in
the Northern Ireland “Facts and Figures” publication and policy staff also utilise IDBR
extracts to respond to queries about foreign businesses.
Informing private sector commercial choices and informing public marketing campaigns
Sample Answers Ltd, consider IDBR and BPE data to be vital, consistently reliable and use
them significantly as their preferred data sources. They use data for market research purposes
and to define samples by geography. Data is also used for international comparisons.
Urban Mines, an environment consultancy and charity use the statistics to estimate industrial
waste analyses, including surveys of companies. Data is also used to inform sample sizes and
forecasting commercial and industrial waste.
British Telecom use data for market planning, forecasting and market research.
Erudicus, a computer services business use data to advise and inform independent business
owners about specific sectors of the labour and employment markets.
PCG (Professional Contractors Group) regularly use small business data and BPE data in
press releases.
BMG Research, a research and consultancy business make significant use of ONS and BIS
data. Examples of data use include, design of samples and calculation of weighting patterns.
The Road Haulage Association use data to provide its members with economic trade
information.
Facilitating academic research
The Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship primarily use data for academic
purposes, assessing growth and churn rates and internationalisation of small and medium
enterprises.
Aston University use the ONS’ Virtual Micro-data laboratory (VML) more than IDBR and
BIS BPE data to examine data on small business births and deaths which they consider is not
adequately represented.
4.
ONS BESPOKE ANALYSIS SERVICE
This service is utilised by users because the basic summary tables might be too broad to meet
their specific user’s needs. Generally, bespoke analysis requests relate to the provision of
more detailed cross tabulations which provide users with detail on specific geographies,
industries or sizebands.
Recent examples of usage of bespoke data include; use in local authority improvement plans
for specific employment areas; by the Local Government Data Unit for Wales in their
InfoBase systems; by a National Park Authority when commenting about their park economy
and by a manufacturing trade body for presenting information and facts to Chairs of
Parliamentary Select Committees, Government Ministers and councils.
The ONS has recently agreed to release UK Business via the NOMIS portal. This important
development will provide users with access to more detailed information, thereby allowing a
range of cross tabulation analyses to be carried out by users. This will allow the users to
obtain more detailed information without paying for a bespoke service.
5.
ENGAGEMENT WITH USERS
A range of engagement activities are carried out by the Business Registers Strategy and
Outputs team (BRSO) who are regularly called upon by colleagues in other government
departments, agencies and local authorities to provide both technical and general advice
relating the provision of IDBR information. Examples of such activity include:
 provision of workshops for regional development agencies, advising them how to
use the IDBR and the range of outputs produced from it
 presentation to Local Govt Associations in Warwickshire on IDBR services and data
availability
 provision of advice and support to Cabinet Office in relation to a government
initiative regarding the procurement of services to government
 Collaboration with the third “voluntary” sector and provision of information to the
National Council for Voluntary Organisations about numbers of voluntary
organisations
 Provision of advice and information to Kirklees Council to enable them to update and
monitor their Integrated Investment Strategy, Local Economic Assessment, Local
Development Framework which will be used to enhance its business engagements and
intervention activities
 Provision of advice and information to Northumberland Council to enable them to
engage with the Dept for Communities and Local Government about European
Regional Development Funding to provide/improve superfast broadband services to
businesses in the region.
 Provision of advice and information to Glasgow City Council to enable them to
update the Council’s City Plan which in turn would influence or impact upon the:
o Updated Local Development Plan for Glasgow,
o Review of industrial and business areas in Glasgow
o Monitoring and evaluation of the City Centre Strategy
 Provision of advice and information to Oxford Council to enable them to improve
understanding and plan for employment growth and update their development

documentation and evidence base for Sites and Housing, Local Development
Framework and the Northern Gateway Area Action Plan.
Provision of advice and information to the Civil Contingencies Secretariat at the
Health and Safety Laboratory so that they are able to comply with their legal
obligations.
ONS welcomes comment and feedback on each of its register publications and each release
contains an invitation for users to contact the BRSO team and submit their views and
comments about the product.
ONS will also continue to work with the Government Statistical Service Business Registers
Group, BIS and the newly created Business Population and Demographic Statistics (BPDS)
User Group to ensure that the views and issues of government and non-government users are
effectively heard and addressed.
6.
CONCLUSION
ONS will be actively engaging with users via the following fora and methods:
 the Government Statistical Service Business Registers Group,
 the Business Population and Demographic Statistics (BPDS) User Group
 all web users, through a request in each statistical bulletin or data release asking them
to submit their views about the product
 the bespoke service
 Micro-data Release Panel requests
 the Nomis website.