§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will make a statement about the price of Price Check goods and services at the end of the scheme in August.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe Price Check Scheme, identified by the red triangle symbol, came to an end in the shops on 15th August. It aimed to keep price increases for selected goods and services within a 5 per cent. ceiling during a six-month period. It covered roughly 20 489W per cent. of consumers' expenditure, including 30 per cent. of consumers' expenditure on food and drink, and about 30 per cent. of consumers' expenditure on the products of nationalised industries.
I now have the Price Commission's final review of prices, carried out in the last week of the scheme. This survey covered some 1,400 retail outlets and involved the collection of some 22,000 prices. It shows that, on a weighted average basis, the prices of all scheme items increased by 2.8 per cent. during the six months of the scheme, well within the 5 per cent. target. Of the 47 groups of items in the scheme, seven fell in price, 13 remained stable within one-half of 1 per cent., 11 rose in price by less than 2 per cent. and only 16 rose in price by more than 2 per cent.
It is manifest that the scheme substantially succeeded in its aims, and I am grateful for the co-operation of all the many firms up and down the country who contributed to this result.
I give below a detailed list of the 47 groups showing the movement in the price of each group for the period of the Scheme:
490W
PRICE CHECK SCHEME: WEIGHTED GROUP INDICES August 1976 (Prices at or near base date=100) Telephones … 100.0 Post … 100.0 Gas … 100.0 Milk … 100.8 Sugar … 99.9 Bread (1) … 111.1 Peas, frozen … 102.5 Biscuits … 100.8 Sweets and chocolates … 102.0 Tea … 100.9 Cereals … 101.4 Blackcurrant health drinks … 101.4 Cider … 99.2 Stationery … 103.8 Magazines (1) … 102.6 Scottish local newspapers … 100.0 Books … 100.0 Wallpaper … 99.7 Furniture … 99.7 Sewing machines … 101.6 Heat-resistant ovenware … 104.9 Domestic appliances … 101.1 Household soap … 100.5 Toilet soap … 98.0 Toilet preparations … 103.7 Razor and blade packs … 96.1 Medicines and surgical goods … 103.0 Prams … 103.2 Toys … 103.4 LP records, budget … 101.4 Photographic goods … 102.4
Matches … … 100.0 Beer (2) … … 104.7 Cigarettes Paint etc. … … 101.5 Drills, lawn mowers etc. … … 100.7 Tools, hand … … 103.5 Domestic heating oil … … 104.9 Light bulbs … … 104.2 Bicycles … … 101.3 Laundering … … 100.2 Cinema charges … … 100.0 Textiles … … 99.7 Ladies' clothes … … 95.8 Men's clothes … … 98.3 Children's clothes … … 99.3 Footwear … … 98.5 All scheme items … … 102.8 1. Manufacturers' price increases made after 31st July—the end of manufacturers' participation in the scheme—are reflected in the retail prices collected in the final week of the scheme in the shops.
2. Beer and cigarettes are grouped together because beer prices were supplied in confidence by the trade.
3. The index numbers above make allowance for changes in indirect taxation while the scheme was in operation. Thus, in the case of domestic appliances—where the rate of VAT was reduced as part of the Budget measures—and beer and cigarettes—where the rate of Excise duty was increased—movements in the price attributable to tax changes have been discounted.
4. Petrol was not included in Price Check at the retail level, although producers undertook to hold wholesale prices within 5 per cent.
5. Car batteries were withdrawn from the scheme in May due to a substantial and unforeseen increase in the price of imported lead.