§ Mr. Gouldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what index of competitiveness is currently prepared by the Treasury; what this shows about the current competitiveness of British manufacturing industry; and how that compares with the position in May 1979.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 29 June 1983, c. 87]: Competitiveness includes a wide range of factors such as design, reliability and after-sales service that are not measured in any index. Relative costs and prices also affect competitiveness and the Treasury looks at a variety of such indicators, including relative actual unit labour costs. These figures are prepared on a quarterly basis and published in table F3 of the "Monthly Review of External Statistics."