FOI reference: FOI-2025-3060
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide any statistical information ONS holds for the Scaffolding erection industry (UK SIC 2007: 43991), including but not limited to:
- Number of businesses/enterprises for the latest period(s) available
- Sector turnover (and GVA, if held) by year for the latest period(s) available
- The mechanism/source used to collect/compile these data (e.g., surveys or administrative sources), including any relevant methodology notes and quality caveats
We said
Thank you for your request.
We do hold the information requested. However, please note that some of these data are currently subject to additional checks.
For the five-digit industry, 43991, "Scaffold erection", the latest UK Business: activity, size and location figures show 6235 businesses classified to this industry at March 2024. Section 7 of this bulletin provides a link to the detailed tables for 2024 and years prior.
The figures for the UK Business: activity, size and location release are produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), recording the position of businesses on 8 March 2024. This statistical release is based on businesses that have been registered with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE).
Detailed sector turnover and approximate gross value added (GVA) data are available from our Annual Business Survey. However, as advised in a note on the current publication of the Non-Financial Business Economy bulletin, results for 2023 may be subject to a processing error that we are currently addressing, and we intend to publish corrected results later this month.
As the updated 2023 data are currently being produced with a view to publish later this month, this is exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. As a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by the ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data, which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.