§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to measure productivity growth by region following the 2004 Spending Review Key Performance Agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry to make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of all English regions. [185509]
§ Ruth KellyThe 2002 Spending Review introduced a joint target for the Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to improve the growth rate in every English region and over the long term reduce the persistent disparities in growth rates between the regions. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland regional development is substantially devolved.
The Technical Note published after the 2002 Spending Review, available on the Departmental websites, sets out how this target will be measured, looking at regional Gross Value Added per head figures produced by the Office for National Statistics. The 2004 Spending Review has reaffirmed this target, and an updated Technical Note will be published on 31 July.
It was also announced that the Office for National Statistics will implement the recommendations of the Allsopp Review in full, which in its final report in March, set out the implications of the regional agenda for economic statistics.
In addition, the Treasury and DTI published a consultation document, Productivity in the UK 5, in March on how progress against productivity, and the drivers of productivity, could best be monitored. A full response to Productivity 5 will be made available soon.