HC Deb 21 July 1975 vol 896 cc17-20
7. Mr. Norman Lamont

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she can yet state what action she intends to take on the expiry of the Price Code in March 1976.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

The Remuneration, Charges and Grants Bill provides for the Price Code to be extended beyond March 1976. This does not exclude the possibility of taking further new powers beyond those being included in the present Bill, or of amending the present Price Code.

Mr. Lamont

Will the right hon. Lady undertake to keep the House fully informed about the discussions she has with the CBI, since it is unsatisfactory that, often, we do not know what has been proposed to the CBI? Secondly, will she tell us when we shall have the consultative document on the Price Code and when it will be enacted? Will she also tell us whether she has indicated in any of her discussions with outside bodies that she is considering amending the present code and continuing it next year, or whether she is considering having another code?

Mrs. Shirley Williams

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we shall explain as fully as we can all our discussions with the CBI during today's debate and in the debates over the next couple of days. There will be in the Vote Office, I hope at 3.30 p.m., copies of the consultative document, which will have been available to Members at the earliest possible date, since the document has only just been finalised for presentation and publication. There will be an opportunity to debate amendments to the Price Code, which will have to be made by affirmative order of the House, following the passage, we trust, of the Remuneration, Charges and Grants Bill. There will, therefore, be more than one opportunity for the House to discuss in detail the proposed changes to the Price Code. There is a further Question dealing with a new price code and I shall deal with that point when we reach that Question.

Mr. Raphael Tuck

Has my right hon. Friend read the proposal by the National Consumer Council for a freeze on prices and essentials? If so, may I have her comments upon it?

Mrs. Shirley Williams

Not only have I read the report, I have also met members of the council in the past week to discuss the matter. I pointed out to it that while a price freeze was not possible at this time because of high rising costs still coming through the pipeline—some of them associated with rates and import prices as well as increases in incomes—it was the Government's intention, as soon as costs began to ease, to make sure that that was reflected in prices—certainly in the prices of the more essential goods.

10. Mr. Dodsworth

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what discussions she has had with the CBI on amendments to the Price Code.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

I met the CBI on several occasions during the discussions leading up to the White Paper " The Attack on Inflation ". These discussions covered the question of amending the Price Code to prevent excessive pay settlements being reflected in higher prices. With other interested parties, the CBI have now been invited to comment on the details of the code amendments.

Mr. Dodsworth

Is the right hon. Lady aware that the key to any anti-inflation policy must be increased productivity, and that the key to increased productivity must be increased investment? Will she undertake that there will be a continuous review of the investment relief available under the Price Code, comparable with the one we have for taxation purposes, to ensure that investment is fostered in every possible way?

Mrs. Shirley Williams

The hon. Gentleman will know that this Government introduced investment relief into the Price Code. We have already reviewed it once and we shall certainly continue to keep it under review, because it is very much our intention that we should take action to improve investment in both the public and private sectors for the sake of this country's future growth.

Mr. Mike Thomas

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that the Price Code gives her sufficient power to control both the overall nature and the details of nationalised industries' prices?

Mrs. Shirley Williams

Although the Price Code bites on nationalised industries' prices it is not the most direct control over them. The most direct control over the nationalised industries' prices, following the White Paper, "The Attack on Inflation", arises from the ability of Ministers to decide whether any given price increase shall be given.

Mr. Norman Lamont

Will the Secretary of State give some details of the basic items on which voluntary price restraint is to be called for? Will she confirm that this is not to be confined to food? Will she therefore give some examples of what, in addition to food, it may be applied to?

Mrs. Shirley Williams

The hon. Gentleman will know that our discussions with the CBI and the Retail Consortium have, at present, just begun. It would be wrong for me to try to predict the outcome. I confirm that it is not the Government's wish that this should be concentrated wholly on food, which is the area where margins, at present, are the most narrow, but it should be an across-the-board system of price stabilisation, based upon essential goods, including consumer durables.

Mr. Arthur Lewis

At the end of my right hon. Friend's original reply she made reference to the CBI and other interested parties. In future, when she and the Government generally go to the lengths that they do to discuss these matters with the CBI, the TUC, other parties and Uncle Tom Cobley and all, will she occasionally consider discussing them with Members of Parliament? Members of Parliament would love to be able to discuss with the Government such things as their counter-inflation policy, wage freezes, and all the rest, before they come to these decisions. They would like to discuss these matters with the Government at the same time as they are discussed with other interested parties.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

My hon. Friend has got it wrong. We are laying before the House today a consultative document. No final decisions have been made upon it. It will be available to Members of Parliament as early as it is available to anybody else today. The discussions over the next four days will cover that document. I shall listen closely to the debate before we finalise the document. I assure the House that it is being fully consulted at the earliest possible stage in this matter and that no final decisions have yet been taken.