FOI Ref: FOI/2022/4424
You asked
I would like to make a request about:
1. Number of libraries at the parliamentary constituency and/or local authority level (or the lowest level of geographical unit available) in the UK.
2. Number of library closures at the parliamentary constituency and/or local authority level (or the lowest level of geographical unit available) in the UK.
3. Number of staff employed at libraries at the parliamentary constituency and/or local authority level (or the lowest level of geographical unit available) in the UK.
For both point 1 and 2, quarterly or yearly frequency from the first year to the latest year when data are available.
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
For information, ONS produce an annual publication called UK Business: Activity, size and location. This publication breaks down the number of UK Businesses (registered for VAT and/or PAYE) by geography, employment size-band, industry and legal status. It is created using an extract of the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken on 12 March 2021.
We also produce two additional publications; one titled Business Demography and another titled Business Demography, quarterly experimental statistics. These datasets provide the count of business births (registrations) and deaths (deregistration's) on both an annual and quarterly basis.
The data you have requested regarding the number of libraries in each parliamentary constituency/local authorities are available using our data dissemination tool. The 2022 data will be available in September/October. The data can be broken-down by geography and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).
However, with regards to your questions on the number of employees within the industry and the count of business closures, this data would need to be produced as bespoke analysis via our bespoke ad hoc services. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources, and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact idbrdas@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there would be a charge for this work subject to our charging policy.