Written question asked by Graham Stuart (Conservative) on Monday, 18 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 January 2007. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Friday, 19 January 2007 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Business Relocations

Question: (2) what estimate he has made of the number of jobs lost as a result of UK firms relocating to EU countries in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: As companies are not required to report decisions to relocate to other EU member states, it is not possible to produce an estimate of this sort. However, the UK remains the top destination in Europe for inward investment, with 8,019 projects over the last 10 years, creating 430,843 jobs.We know of 305 inward investments into the UK from other EU member states in 2005-06 of which 140 were helped by the inward investment network of UKTI, RDAs and devolved Administrations. The network seeks out knowledge driven inward investment and makes the strong case to them for the UK as a place to do business. It offers tailored assistance to potential inward investors, for example to find technology partners, skilled staff and suitable sites.

Secondary information