Essential Goods and Services (Price Control) (Hansard, 23 February 1982)

§ Miss Betty Boothroyd (West Bromwich, West)

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to give the Secretary of State powers to control the prices of essential goods and services.

There is public concern at the increasing cost of essential goods and services which are a sizeable element in the family budget. I include the cost of a home, the increasing cost of heating that home and the charges imposed for health services.

I remind the House that the Conservative Party declared in its manifesto that one of its five main tasks was the control of inflation, and that its intention was to spare no effort to overcome rising costs. Unfortunately, those intentions have not materialised. Within a few weeks of coming into office the Conservative Government abolished the Price Commission and the grant to the consumer advice centres.

The Prime Minister folded up the chair at the Cabinet table formerly occupied by the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. For three years there has been no Minister responsible for price regulation or monitoring. The cost of living has not been reduced; it has been increased by about half as much again since the Prime Minister received the keys of 10 Downing Street.

The right hon. Lady, the former Minister for Consumer Affairs, told us in a ministerial press statement that they were dedicated to screwing down the gas under the inflation pot. I intend to use gas as the first example of the need for price control.

Three years ago a family living in a semi-detached gas-heated house spent about £3.65 a week on gas. Prices have been forced up over the rate of inflation with two major increases to come over the next few months. That family will then have a weekly bill of about £8.54. That is an increase of over 100 per cent.

The Government now expect revenue from gas to the tune of about £850 million to reduce their borrowing requirements and balance their books. The consumer is having to foot the bill and has no means of redress.

It is not my intention to knock the gas consumer council because unfortunately that council has no teeth when it comes to price regulation. It publicly regretted the speed at which the increases have been imposed. That sentiment is echoed by millions of people. Those charges have become crippling taxation on an essential service.

Electricity presents a similar pattern. A weekly electricity bill for heating a small family house was about £5.70. The cost is now closer to £10 a week, which is an increase of about 70 per cent. The consumers are being treated like a captive army who have to pay, and the State industries are being made the scapegoats for inflation.

Last week there was a lobby of pensioners and trade unionists now on pension who stated that their pensions were inadequate to cover some of those costs. They were right. One or two of them complained about the standing charges for electricity and gas, which have risen astronomically.

I am rather a squirrel when it comes to hoarding and during the weekend I looked at my bills. I found that the standing charge for gas had increased by 400 per cent. It is now £8 a quarter. The standing charge for electricity 760 three years ago was about £2. It has now increased to £7, an increase of 350 per cent. Standing charges form a high proportion of costs for pensioners and low-income families.

What disappoints many of us is that the Secretary of State has not used his reserve powers to refer such items to the Director General of Fair Trading.

In a press release by a former Minister we were told that every Department and Minister were dedicated to winning the battle against inflation. The DHSS is charged with the responsibility of safeguarding people's health, and also, according to that statement, with the responsibility of keeping costs down. The cost of a prescription has rocketed from 20p to £1.30, an increase of 650 per cent. in three years. The clock has been put back 40 or 50 years as people buy patent medicines and analgesics over the counter because they find that prescription costs are an obstacle to seeking proper professional advice.

Hon. Members will have received the parliamentary brief from the British Dental Association. It is alarmed about further increases in dental charges. In a letter the association states: the proposals represent a considerable erosion of the facilities for health care provision and have been made without any consideration or regard for the consequences for people's health. There is no doubt that such enormous increases represent a total failure by the Government to honour their previously stated policy of raising charges only in line with costs and not a penny more. The costs for dentistry will have almost trebled during the Government's lifetime.

When in Opposition the Prime Minister promised to help would-be house buyers by reducing interest rates. It is a different tale now when, with a new £20, 000 average mortgage, families must find £12 extra a week to meet repayments. The latest increase in council house rents means that in three years rents have doubled, as the Secretary of State puts the squeeze on local authorities. Far from being involved in a battle, it seems that every Department of State has taken off its boxing gloves before it has even begun the fight.

There could and should be close monitoring of national insurance contributions, but nothing has been done. Three years ago contributions out of the pay packet of average male weekly earnings were about £6.50. Today they are closer to £13 a week. The wage packet has its coat and hat on now before it comes over the doorstep. The percentage increase in real terms is enormous. Although the Secretary of State has the power in the Competition Act to refer such increases to the Director General of Fair Trading, nothing has been done. It is a stunning exposition of doing nothing.

All those increases in essential services cannot be blamed on high wage settlements. Settlements have been stabilised in the last few years. Asking the Government to safeguard the interests of million of families is like putting train robbers in charge of a silver vault, because nothing is being done.

It is all very well to say that every Minister is responsible for fighting inflation, but in practice it means that the responsibility is spread so thinly that it is totally camouflaged. No one takes responsibility for policy initiatives or for directing those initiatives. I present my Bill because I want to see the people who must pay receiving justice and fairness.