§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 26 March 1999,Official Report, column 444, on competitiveness, on what basis he has defined productivity performance. [83316]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 5 May 1999]: Labour productivity can be measured by value added per worker or by value added per hour worked. Irrespective of the measure chosen, the UK's productivity performance is disappointing. The Analysis and Background document, which was published along with recent Competitiveness White Paper (Cm 4176), showed that only Japan has lower productivity as measured by value added per hour worked, and that the UK lags all of the G7 on a per worker basis. Both documents are in the Library of the House.