§ 9. Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the effect of the Selective Employment Tax on the cost of living.
§ Mr. MacDermotI estimate that the effect has been to raise the retail prices index by about one-half of 1 per cent.
§ Mr. Stratton MillsSurely the Treasury must be most concerned that the tax has a growing effect on the cost of living over the next year to 18 months? Would the Minister consider getting the Prices and Incomes Board to undertake a study of the effect on the cost of living of this ridiculous tax?
§ Mr. MacDermotI should have thought that this figure shows how much hon. Members opposite inflated and exaggerated the effect of the tax upon the cost of living.
§ Mr. Robert Cooke, Has the Minister any figures of those who are drawing unemployment benefit because their jobs have disappeared because of the incidence of the tax?
§ Mr. MacDermotNo, Sir, and I should be very interested to receive any figures which the hon. Gentleman has.
§ Sir J. RodgersIs the Minister aware that the number of people employed in manufacturing industries has gone down by about 300,000, although the object of the exercise was to increase the numbers of people in manufacturing, particularly of exports?
§ Mr. MacDermotIt was not the object to achieve that in the short term. I am confident that the Selective Employment Tax will make its contribution to that objective in the long term.
§ 19. Mr. Ridleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has considered the recommendations of the Economic Development Council for the distribution trades that nationalised industries should not receive the refund 1692 under the Selective Employment Payments Act in respect of electrical contracting staff; and what reply he has sent.
§ Mr. MacDermotEarlier this year this Economic Development Council recommended a review of the decisions in respect of staff of nationalised industries, but it made no specific proposals in respect of electrical contracting staff.
§ Mr. RidleyWhat is the point of setting up these development councils if the Government are not going to take any notice whatever whenever they make recommendations which are politically inconvenient to the Government
§ Mr. MacDermotAs I indicated in my original reply, the hon. Gentleman is mistaken in thinking that the Economic Development Council made a recommendation and we ignored it.