To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his definition of a rural business is; and what estimate he has made of the number of rural businesses in England. (217664)

There is no standard industrial classification for a rural business but in 2004 Government agreed to define a rural business in England as a business registered at an address in an area defined as rural by the 2004 definition of rural. This defines settlements with populations of 10,000 or more as urban, and those with less than a 10,000 population as rural.

Analysis of the ONS Inter Departmental Business Register by Defra shows there were 476,490 businesses registered for VAT or PAYE in rural areas in England in 2005. This represents 28 per cent. of the total number of VAT and PAYE businesses registered in England, which was 1,712,745 in 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans he has to reduce the level of administrative burdens on rural businesses. (217953)

BERR's plans to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on businesses, including rural businesses, are set out in our Better Regulation Simplification Plan.