Written question asked by Stephen O'Brien (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 December 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 December 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 13 December 2004 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) the Office of National Statistics and (b) the Department of Trade and Industry in relation to the calculation of the Treasury's measurement of an underlying trend rate of productivity growth on an output per hour worked basis.

Answer: Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with (a) the Office for National Statistics and (b) the Department of Trade and Industry in relation to the calculation of the Treasury's measurement of an underlying trend rate of productivity growth on an output per hour worked basis. [204409] Mr. Timms: In assessing the underlying trend rate of productivity growth, on an output per hour worked basis, the Treasury uses data sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on real non-oil output (Gross Value Added) and total actual weekly hours worked (from the Labour Force Survey). The Treasury shares a joint Public Service Agreement Target with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on increasing the productivity of the economy. So Treasury officials have regular discussions with ONS officials on data issues and with DTI officials on measuring progress on the joint target. The latest numbers are available in Table A2 of the 2004 pre-Budget report (p. 169).

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 204409; 428 c869-70W
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Department of Trade and Industry Office for National Statistics Standards Departmental coordination Productivity
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk