British Council of Productivity Associations (Hansard, 19 February 1979)

§ 14. Mr. Richard Page
asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will seek a meeting with the chairman of the British Council of Productivity Associations.

§ Mr. Les Huckfield
My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of the British Council of Productivity Associations from time to time, but he has no plans for a further meeting in the near future. My right hon. Friend will, however, be speaking at a British Council of Productivity Associations conference on the industrial strategy and efficiency in production at Leeds Castle in April.

§ Mr. Page
When the Secretary of State next meets the chairman, will he remind him of this country's very low industrial production compared with other industrial countries—some 1 per cent. total improvement over the next five years—and will he ask him whether there is any correlation between that and the fact that we have the highest personal taxation of the majority of industrial nations?

§ Mr. Huckfield
The hon. Gentleman is confusing production and productivity. As regards production, there were only three European countries last year which had a faster rate of growth of output. As regards productivity—I can give the hon. Gentleman the figures and I ask him to note them carefully—the increase in output per person employed in industrial production between 1975 and the second quarter of 1978 was 13 per cent., and between the fourth quarter of 1977 and the second quarter of 1978 the increase was 4.5 per cent. That is an increase in productivity of which we should be proud.

§ Mrs. Wise
In any case, will my hon. Friend point out to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Page) that his basic premise is wrong because we do not have the highest level of personal taxation? Obviously, the hon. Gentleman does not know what he means when he refers to personal taxation, but would my hon. Friend agree with him if he is advocating that there should be a greater amount of taxation borne by large companies?

§ Mr. Huckfield
My hon. Friend poses a very interesting question.

§ Mr. Tebbit
Answer it.

§ Mr. Huckfield
I am about to answer it if I am only given time. If taxation incentives of the kind for which the hon. Gentleman was asking were put into practice, I can only cite what happened on the last occasion, that is, 24 between 1971 and 1974, when they did not give the sort of investment and output effort which the hon. Gentleman imagines. In fact, it went into office blocks and property speculation.

§ Mr. Crouch
Is the Minister aware that at the meeting at Leeds Castle to which he has referred the other speakers will include the director-general of the NEDO, the president of the CBI and—believe it or not—myself? Will the Minister draw to the Secretary of State's attention the opportunity of speaking to the chairman of the BCPA then regarding the valuable work which the council does in promoting productivity throughout all sections of industry, and on both sides of the shop floor, and will he seek to persuade his right hon. Friend that perhaps some grant from the Government could again be extended to this very valuable body?

§ Mr. Huckfield
I am sure that my right hon. Friend will not change his mind when he hears that the hon. Gentleman is speaking. My right hon. Friend spoke at the BCPA annual conference last year and that is evidence that we regard the association and its work as important. I shall bear in mind what the hon. Gentleman has said.