Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Thursday, 2 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 March 2006. It was answered by John Healey (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 March 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

Business Productivity (Coventry, South)

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the productivity of business in Coventry South.

Answer: Official productivity statistics are published at the national level and Government Office level. Therefore data on the productivity performance of business in the Coventry, South constituency is not available.At the regional level, the West Midlands has improved relative to the UK average. Between 1996 and 2004, the region enjoyed the fastest increase in productivity of all the regions relative to the UK average.Data on the Coventry, South constituency shows that since 1997, claimant count unemployment has fallen by over 35 per cent. long-term unemployment has fallen by 92 per cent. and long term youth unemployment has fallen by over 66 per cent. Available statistics on employment show that employment has risen by over 25 per cent. since 1999 in the Coventry, South constituency.

Secondary information