§ Dr. Lienee JonesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the research by the Office for National Statistics into bias in the Retail Prices Index to be published. [56025]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 22 October 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on when the Chancellor of the Exchequer expects the research by the ONS into bias in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to be published.Our work programme into potential bias in the RPI is an expansive one that will look into a number of conceptual and technical issues relating to index number construction. We have identified those aspects of the current methodology which should be given the highest priority and will undertake research on these first. A description of the research programme will be published in the ONS publication Economic Trends.I am sorry that I cannot be more specific about the time of completion of particular research projects at this stage but further consideration will be given to the precise form and timing of dissemination as the work progresses further.As you know, our initial assessment of the potential for bias in the RPI was published in an article in the October 1997 edition of Economic Trends entitled Implications of the US Boskin report for the UK Retail Prices Index. A copy of Economic Trends is available in the House of Commons Library.