§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the performance of the UK recorded in the Eurostat reports, Statistics in Focus, General Statistics, No. 1/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in the European Union 1999" and Statistics in Focus, General Statistics No. 2/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in Candidate Countries 1999"; and if he will make a statement. [32870]
§ Ruth KellyEurostat report that UK GDP per capita was above the EU average in 1999. More recent Eurostat labour market data show the employment rates of all the countries and regions of the UK are above the EU average.
842WThe Government are committed to raising the rate of sustainable UK growth by improving employment and productivity in all regions. The Government's approach to achieving this is set out in detail in "Productivity in the UK:3—the Regional Dimension" published alongside PBR 2001 (Cm 5318).