§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of business investment was in each quarter since 1997. [94396]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 30 January 2003:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what the level of business investment was in each quarter since 1997. (94396)The information is available in the January 2003 edition of Economic Trends (No. 590). This is a National Statistics publication and is available in the House of Commons Library. The data required are 989W contained in "Table 2.7 Gross fixed capital formation" on page T10. The series identifier for seasonally adjusted constant price business investment is NPEL.
The most recent business investment data are also available from the business investment First Release which is available in the Library or from the National Statistics website "www.statistics.gov.uk" under "more releases".
§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into the long-term effect of a drop in business investment on the(a) competitiveness, (b) productivity and (c) purchasing power parity of the UK economy. [94399]
§ Ruth KellyThere is ample evidence that business investment is one of the essential drivers rising productivity and living standards. The Government's approach to raising competitiveness and productivity centres: on maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment conducive to individuals and firms investing for the long term; and implementing microeconomic reforms to remove any barriers that prevent markets from functioning effectively.