HC Deb 23 October 1968 vol 770 c287W
43. Mr. Dodds-Parker

asked the President of the Board of Trade how he made the official calculation that the standard of living improved through a rise from 40 per cent. to 44 per cent. between 1966 and 1967 in the ownership of cars, in view of the fall in the production of motor vehicles, private and commercial, from 2,256,000 to 2,093,000 in the same period, as set out in the official publication, Britain in Figures.

Mr. Dell

The figures 40 and 44 per cent. relate to 1965 and 1966, not 1966 and 1967. They come from the annual Family Expenditure Surveys conducted by the Government Social Survey. A rise in the proportion of households owning cars is not inconsistent with a fall in the output of vehicles.