Economy: Productivity Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Soley
Main Page: Lord Soley (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Soley's debates with the Department for International Development
(6 years, 1 month ago)
Lords ChamberFirst, I pay tribute to the work that my noble friend has done consistently to promote family as a key part of our society. We know the devastating effects that family breakdown can have on people’s health, well-being and educational opportunities. We have not conducted any piece of work in that specific area, but it is certainly something that I am prepared to look at and discuss with him further.
Why do the Government think that productivity is lower in the service sector than the manufacturing sector?
It is a very interesting point. There is an excellent book that a long queue of people were trying to access in the Library by a certain Jonathan Haskel—he may be known to the noble Lord—called Capitalism without Capital. In it, he unpacks that we have not really invested enough in intangible assets, such as R&D, patents and intellectual capital within firms. He thinks that there is more to be done. It is a very live, very important, crucial debate that we have to have as a country. That is the reason for the review, the reason for the strategy and the reason we have £31 billion in the fund.