§ 15. Mr. John Hyndasked the Minister of Labour whether he will arrange to publish in this country statistics concerning the retail prices of individual foods such as are already made available by his Department to the International Labour Organisation.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe average prices made available to the International Labour Office in respect of mid-October of each year are based on a relatively small number of quotations in seven large towns. They are considered to be satisfactory for the purpose of making rough comparisons between prices in different countries, but are not sufficiently precise for publication as average prices applicable to the United Kingdom as a whole. My right hon. Friend proposes to consider the possibility of producing for publication average prices which would be more representative.
§ Mr. HyndMay I thank my hon. Friend for that reply and express the hope that her right hon. Friend will publish these statistics very soon? They will be extremely useful.