PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(18 December 2024)

The government’s growth mission is dedicated to boosting productivity growth nationwide. After fourteen years of weak productivity growth, we are reforming the economy to increase productivity in both the public and private sectors.

Public sector productivity rates in June 2024 were 8.5% below pre-pandemic levels — this is not sustainable. We have taken decisive action in the Autumn Budget to address this issue. Government departments are now required to meet a 2% target for productivity, efficiency, and savings as part of Phase 1 of the Spending Review, covering 2025-26. For the NHS, our Autumn Budget included over £2 billion of investment in technology to improve productivity and patient access, alongside over £1 billion to tackle the maintenance backlog.

We have introduced significant to improve private sector productivity. As part of the Get Britain Working package, the government is integrating health, employment, and skills services in eight trailblazer areas to help out of work individuals to rejoin the workforce. The government will invest £40 million to transform the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy to deliver new foundation apprenticeships and shorter apprenticeships. Skills England will provide a comprehensive national overview of skills gaps and strategies to address them.

The government is also protecting record levels of R&D investment, committing over £20.4bn for R&D in 2025/26 to turn cutting-edge innovation into real-world productivity gains.