The Government's Productivity Plan was launched in July 2015. The Government considers it to be the "first devoted sign of such a specific commitment to all the issues that are relevant for productivity". We welcome the Government's focus on productivity. When it comes to the success of British businesses and the UK economy, we share the aspiration of the Government that the Plan is a success. That is why our first announced inquiry was into the Plan and we will continue to scrutinise its implementation throughout the Parliament. However we are concerned that the document has been described by many businesses as being too vague and long a document to be practical, and that its lack of specific and measurable policies means that there is a risk that the document is destined to collect dust on bookshelves across Whitehall. We have recommended that the Government produces a clear supplementary document outlining the proposed implementation and measure of success of each policy in the Productivity Plan. The Chancellor of the Exchequer published his Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 towards the end of our inquiry and we conclude this Report by considering whether and how that Review has moved the Productivity Plan forward.

Productivity Perspectives offers a timely and stimulating social science view on the productivity debate, drawing on the work of the ESRC funded Productivity Insights Network. The book examines the drivers and inhibitors of UK productivity growth in the light of international evidence, and the resulting dramatic slowdown and flatlining of productivity growth in the UK. The reasons for this so-called productivity puzzle are not well understood, and this book advances explanations and insights on these issues from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives. It will be of value to all those interested in, and engaging with, the challenge of slowing productivity growth.