Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the Government gathers data on the number of British businesses that are (a) women-owned and (b) women-led.

The primary source of data on the characteristics and performance of the small and medium sized SME population is the BIS Small Business Survey (SBS).

The businesses surveyed in the SBS are asked what proportion of the partners or directors are women and whether the business is owned by women. Women-led businesses are defined as those where women make up more than 50 per cent of the partners or directors in day-to-day control of the business, or where the sole proprietor is a woman. Women-owned business are defined as those where more than 50 per cent of the business is owned by women.

The SBS data are weighted to reflect the SME population as a whole using numbers from the Business Population Estimates. Further information on SBS 2012 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/small-business-survey-reports and the findings from SBS 2014 are scheduled for publication in early 2015.