§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement on the most recent Retail Price Index figures and to what extent the near 9 per cent. increase was due to the rise in council rents resulting from the Housing Finance Act.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe increase in the General Index of Retail Prices between April and October 1972, expressed at an annual rate, was 8.7 per cent. Of this rise, about one-seventh was due to higher rents for local authority dwellings.