PRODUCTIVITY in Oxford is more than double that in Sheffield, according to universities minister Jo Johnson.

Mr Johnson claimed production in the Sheffield city region was less than half that in Oxford and London on a tour of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, in Sheffield University.

According to the Yorkshire Post, Mr Johnson said: “To ensure that productivity grows nationally we need to empower cities like Sheffield to reach their full potential.

“Productivity here [Sheffield] is currently less than half that in Oxford and London.

“Research and innovation have a critical role to play in plugging these productivity gaps around the country.”

The leader of Oxford City Council, Bob Price, said Oxford’s success was down to the university’s presence, but said the high cost of housing could make it difficult for productivity to “rival” other leading institutions.

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He added: “Oxford’s pre-eminence in research and technology transfer to industrial and commercial applications has been based on the university’s ability to recruit some of the best intellectual resources from all over the world and the investment in excellent facilities by government, the research councils, individual donors and industry.

“The high cost of housing in Oxford is already compromising the university’s recruitment and the reduction in government and research council funding makes it more difficult to maintain the quality of research facilities at the kind of level that will allow Oxford to continue to rival the leading US universities