The Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) is a structured list of UK businesses. The two main sources of input are the Value Added Tax (VAT) system from Customs & Excise and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) from Inland Revenue. Additional input comes from Companies House, Dun and Bradstreet and the ONS business surveys. This information goes to make up a statistical register comprising 2.1 million businesses, representing nearly 99% of economic activity. Analyses that are produced as part of this service are at the same level at which the business statistical surveys are conducted.
Data available
Data for standard analyses are available at Reporting Unit (business) level and Local Unit (site) level. Variables available are:
Reporting Unit
RU Reference number
Name
Trading Style
Address and postcode
Telephone number (if applicable)
Legal status
Employment
Employees
Turnover
Classification (SIC2003)
Region
VAT reference
PAYE reference
Local Unit Level
Reporting Unit Ref
Enterprise Reference (for matching with Enterprise Level)
LU Reference
Class
Employment
Employees
LU Name
LU Address
LU Postcode
Trading Style
Legal Status
Region
Legal Issues
Disclosive data can only be released to authorised outside bodies and contractors working for government departments.
A form must be signed which confirms that:
data will only be used for the purpose agreed with ONS;
data will be kept secure;
data will not be disclosed to any third party without ONS' permission; and
legal sanctions against unlawful disclosure will be imposed.
Other issues
Charges
Current ONS charges are £70 per hour (plus VAT if required electronically).
Timeliness of data
Data are provided from the live IDBR at the time of request or from fixed extracts that are taken once a year in March. Population counts are produced to be consistent with those timescales.
Release of data
Data can be sent as hard copy, disk or CD. Disclosive data cannot be sent by email or fax because of confidentiality issues. Once data has been passed from the ONS, it becomes the responsibility of the recipient. If confidential data is being passed to a third party under contract, then ONS wishes to see all legal contracts before releasing the data.
Timescale
We aim to despatch the standard analysis within 2 weeks from confirmation of approval from the Micro Data Release Panel. The timescale for special requirements would be subject to discussion.
How to request data
Please email IDBRDAS@ons.gov.uk with the following details:
Name
Address
s
Telephone Number
Email Address
Description of data to be requested
Indication if this submission follows on from a previous request
See Access to ONS Microdata for information on the role of the Micro Data Release Panel (MRP) who review all requests for data of this type. A list of all bodies that have requested data since the MRP came into operation in April 2003 is also available.
For further information on Micro Data Release Panel please
contact Laurel Bran 01329 813380 or
e-mail: laurel.bran@ons.gov.uk
For further information on disclosive data from the IDBR please contact the IDBR Data Analysis Service on +44 (0)1633 456902 or e-mail: IDBRDAS@ons.gov.uk
