Information related to the Business In Scotland report: FOI release

You asked for “Will you define the specific SIC codes, and the figures which are associated with the relevant SIC code, which compose the category ‘Crop and animal production, hunting and related services’ in division 1, table 1 in the Business in Scotland (2018) spreadsheet.

I am interested in this category and would like to see what business compose this category, with the exact same headers as the business in Scotland table 1.”

On the number of enterprises in Scotland by the full SIC subclass code (within the SIC Division 01 category), employee sizeband and their total Scottish employment and turnover, I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested in the Excel Workbook file. Please note that the data attached is taken from a Scottish extract of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR is maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is a database of all registered enterprises operating in the UK i.e. enterprises that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE. It covers 99% of economic activity in the UK. Those excluded are small sole traders or partnerships with no employees and an annual turnover of less than the VAT threshold (£83,000 in 2017).

On the list of the names of all businesses that were part of the “01 Crop and animal production, hunting and related services” SIC Division, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exemption under section 26(a) of FOISA (disclosure prohibited by an enactment) applies to that information.  The reason why that exemption applies is explained below.

An exemption applies

An exemption under section 26(a) of FOISA (disclosure prohibited by an enactment) applies to all of the information requested because Section 9 of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 prohibits the disclosure of this information.  This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

The main source of the Businesses in Scotland 2018 report is the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The IDBR is maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and is a database of all enterprises that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE in the UK. All data on the IDBR are treated as RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL and are protected by the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and by specific legislation. The disclosure of data relating to individual undertakings without consent is prohibited under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.

The IDBR can only be used for valid statistical research purposes and the confidentiality of the data has to be preserved in outputs and publications.  The main users of the IDBR are government departments and local authorities that are permitted to receive the IDBR information.  However, it is possible for other researchers to apply for access to the IDBR for statistical analyses – guidance on how to request access is available, from the ONS, at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/products-and-services/idbr/index.html