13. Mrs. Slaterasked the Minister of Labour how many times the price of bread has increased during the last six months; and to what extent this has contributed to the increase in the cost of living.
§ Mr. HareThe prices of bread are not changed simultaneously throughout the country, and information is not available about the number of times individual retailers have changed their prices during the last six months. The increase in the price of bread between mid-July, 1961, and mid-January, 1962, accounted for about one-seventieth of a point in the "all-items" index.
Mrs. SlaterIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that during the last six months bread has risen in price by 3 per cent.? Although this may seem a small percentage, it is a very real factor in the cost of living for old-age pensioners and people in the very low income groups. It is a very much more important factor than the bringing of transistors and motor cars into the cost of living index. Will not the right hon. Gentleman make some representation to the Ministries concerned in order to try to restrict these constant increases in the price of bread?
§ Mr. HareThe hon. Lady should realise that the rise in the price of bread accounts for only 0.5 per cent. of the total rise in the cost of living during the last six months. That is borne out by the fact that living standards among the people, including the old people, have improved in recent years. The proportion of income spent on bread forms a smaller proportion of total expenditure than it used to.
§ Sir H. HarrisonIs it not true that there has been no increase in the price of wheat to the farmer during this period?