Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to improve productivity.

The Chancellor has outlined his plans to boost private sector productivity and long-term economic growth with a package of measures under the ‘four Es’ of economic growth: Employment, Enterprise, Education, and Everywhere.

The Government has introduced several fiscal measures to increase productivity. For example, we have introduced full expensing – giving the UK the most generous capital allowances regime in the OECD on a Net Present Value basis to increase business investment and boost labour productivity. We increased the R&D Expenditure Credit relief rate to 20% – the joint highest uncapped headline rate of R&D tax relief in the G7 for large companies.

We are supporting our world leading green industries. For example, up to £20bn of funding has been provided for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, and we are working with investors through our Automotive Transformation Fund to build a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. Furthermore, the Investment Zones programme will catalyse 12 high potential knowledge-intensive growth clusters across the UK.

We are also ensuring our labour market is more productive through our investment in skills and the Chief Secretary is currently leading a programme across government to identify the most ambitious ways to improve productivity in the public sector.

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