HC Deb 19 March 1957 vol 567 cc189-90
16. Mrs. Mann

asked the Minister of Labour how much greater in Scotland than in England is the cost of those items of food represented in his Index of Retail Prices; and if he will indicate the differences in cost of living between Scotland and England in his monthly Gazette.

Mr. Iain Macleod

The Index of Retail Prices measures the relative changes as between various dates in the average level of retail prices in the United Kingdom as a whole and does not provide a basis for measuring differences in the cost of living between different areas.

Mrs. Mann

Scotland is a different country from England, as the right hon. Gentleman probably knows, and the prices are definitely higher than in England and wages are lower. Does the Minister not think it time that we had this revealed in the index figures?

Mr. Macleod

Let me concede straight away and apologise to the hon. Lady for the first part of her supplementary questions. The difficulty is that the index is a measure of percentage change and it would not be possible to calculate either for countries or for areas, without an enormous amount of extra work, the sort of comparison that the hon. Lady requires. It will be to some extent helpful to her that when we publish, as we shall do shortly, the household expenditure inquiry, special and separate figures will be given for Scotland.