Sir NIcholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) carried out on the structural factors in the economy that have contributed to the scale of the productivity gap.

Greg Hands, Chief Secretary to the Treasury: The Treasury has commissioned no external research on the productivity gap. The Treasury’s analysis is laid out in Annex A of the Productivity Plan, which was published in July 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443898/Productivity_Plan_web.pdf, pages 77-82). This draws on evidence from academics, the Bank of England and others.