§ 3. Mr. O'Halloranasked the Secretary of State for Employment when he hopes to reach his decision on the report of his Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee on regional prices; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Employment (Mr. Paul Bryan)My right hon. Friend will announce his decision shortly when he has considered the full implications of the Committee's recommendations.
§ Mr. O'HalloranI am grateful for that reply. Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the cost of living in London is at least 15 per cent. higher than that in the rest of the country and that the quicker this report is published the better?
§ Mr. BryanI understand the hon. Members concern with this subject. We are not trying to hold the report back, but it has proved a highly complicated subject, so much so that the Advisory Committee had to submit the problem to a technical committee, and so there is much to think about. But a statement will be made shortly.
§ Mr. ScottWill my hon. Friend avoid collecting and publishing statistics just for the sake of doing so? We have a special index for pensioners, and I am sure that that is right, but we do not want a plethora of indices to be published.
§ Mr. BryanIt has been the policy of my Department since 18th June, last year, to see that no unnecessary statistics are provided.