HC Deb 25 October 1990 vol 178 cc296-7W
Mr. Hind

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the productivity improvements in British industry since 1979.

Mr. Norman Lamont

Manufacturing industry's productivity grew by an average of 4.2 per cent. a year between 1979 and 1989; faster than in all other major industrialised countries. In the sixties and seventies the United Kingdom was at the bottom of the manufacturing productivity league table.

Mr. Brazier

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to encourage further manufacturing productivity growth.

Mr. Neale

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to encourage manufacturing productivity growth.

Mr. Norman Lamont

This Government will continue to implement economic policies designed to encourage enterprise and efficiency and thus to promote manufacturing productivity growth. The proof of these policies' success has been the marked improvement in manufacturing productivity growth over the last decade. Since 1979, it has grown faster than any other major industrialised country. In the sixties and seventies we were at the bottom of the international league for manufacturing productivity growth.

Mr. Stevens

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the output per hour worked in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Japan.

Mr. Janman

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest information on the output per hour worked in(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Japan.

Mr. Maples

Output per hour worked in the United Kingdom in 1986, the latest year for which data are available, is estimated to have been around 50 per cent. higher than in Japan.