§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that the previous practice of raising food prices by ½d. or 1d. per lb., or on a similar pro-rata basis, 407W has been changed to a practice of raising such prices by 3d. to 6d.; whether these increases are necessary; and whether, in view of the demonetisation of the ½d., he will introduce legislation to provide that price increases can be based upon the notional figure of ½d.
§ Mr. HoyI am not aware of the change in practice to which my hon. Friend refers. Price increases necessitated by the demonetisation of the ½d., and other changes in the prices and/or weights of significant items, are kept under review in relation to the Government's prices policy through my Department's price surveillance arrangements,
408W
1964–1969—AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES AT MID-OCTOBER (IN PENCE) 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Difference between 1964 and 1969 White wheat bread 1¾ lb. 13.9 14.8 15.6 16.8 19.1 20.0 + 6.1 Other bread* 14 oz. 10.8 11.1 11.3 11.9 13.1 13.5 + 2.7 Flour (wheat) white 3 1b. 22.6 21.9 21.9 22.6 23.2 23.1 + 0.5 Beef, home-killed, 1st quality: sirloin (without bone) lb. 81.1 85.7 83.7 82.1 92.5 103.0 +21.9 brisket (with bone) lb. 31.6 33.9 34.0 30.6 38.9 40.9 + 9.3 Pork, home-killed: leg (foot off) lb. 51.5 49.5 57.0 55.8 60.5 62.7 + 11.2 loin (with bone) lb. 60.1 59.3 67.2 68.7 71.8 74.6 + 14.5 Mutton, home-killed, 1st quality, leg (with bone) lb. 44.4 45.5 48.8 — — — — Home-killed lamb, leg (with bone) lb. — — — — 67.6 77.0 — Ham, cooked, sliced (without bone) lb. 102.2 103.1 112.2 113.1 116.3 123.5 +21.3 Bacon: back, smoked lb. 61.0 60.7 69.8 68.9 70.7 76.9 + 15.9 streaky, smoked lb. 34.9 32.3 41.7 41.9 44.5 48.1 + 13.2 Fish: fresh cod cuts lb. 37.8 40.1 41.4 43.5 — — — fresh cod fillets lb. — — — — 43.9 45.3 — Margarine ½lb. 11.0 12.3 12.3 10.2 11.1 11.3 + 0.3 Lard lb. 16.1 17.0 17.7 16.7 15.1 17.2 + 1.1 Milk pint 9.0 9.5 9.5 10.0 10.5 11.0 + 2.0 Butter lb. 46.4 44.1 43.4 43.8 — — — New Zealand lb. — — — — 40.0 40.2 — Danish lb. — — — — 45.5 47.4 — Cheese lb. 38.9 40.3 41.2 41.4 41.7 42.4 + 3.5 Eggs: large one 3.7 4.9 4.4 4.1 4.1 4.7 + 1.0 standard one 2.7 4.3 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.8 + 1.1 medium one 2.0 3.7 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.1 + 1.1 Potatoes lb. 3.7 3.7 4.5 4.5 — — — red lb. — — — — 4.4 5.3 — white lb. — — — — 3.6 4.5 — Cabbage, greens lb. 7.0 5.1 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.5 + 0.5 Onions, ripe lb. 6.7 7.3 8.0 7.6 8.3 8.8 + 2.1 Apples, eating lb. 13.4 14.7 17.6 21.4 20.3 17.2 + 3.8 Oranges lb. 14.1 14.2 15.1 14.8 15.9 17.1 + 3.0 Sugar, granulated 2 lb. 19.3 16.9 16.7 17.1 16.9 17.8 - 1.5 Tea lb. 75.9 75.5 76.2 75.7 74.8 74.4 - 1.5 * Bread baked from a proprietary brand of brown flour. and we see no need for introducing legislation along the lines suggested.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will publish in HANSARD as full and complete a list as may be available to his Department showing the rise and fall in the price of stated foods and food products, either on a monthly or annual basis, so as to show a comparison between the years 1959 to 1964 and 1964 to 1970.
§ Mr. HoyThe figures readily available relate to mid-October for the years 1959 to 1969 and are as follows:
409W
1959–64—AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES AT MID-OCTOBER (IN PENCE) 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 Difference between 1959 and 1964 White wheat bread 1¾ lb. 10.9 11.5 12.7 12.9 13.3 13.9 + 3.0 Other bread* 14 oz. 8.1 8.6 9.5 10.2 10.4 10.8 + 2.7 Flour (wheat) white 3 lb. 21.1 21.4 21.0 21.1 21.3 22.6 + 1.5 Beef, home-killed, 1st quality: sirloin (without bone) lb. 64.3 65.0 62.3 66.3 68.1 81.1 + 16.8 brisket (with bone) lb. 26.6 26.9 24.5 26.2 27.4 31.6 + 5.0 Pork, home-killed: leg (foot off) lb. 51.6 51.0 49.9 46.6 50.1 51.5 - 0.1 loin (with bone) lb. 56.6 56.8 56.1 54.1 58.9 60.1 + 3.5 Mutton, home-killed, 1st quality, leg (with bone) lb. 37.1 42.3 41.0 43.9 39.1 44.4 + 7.3 Ham, cooked, sliced (without bone) lb. 99.2 97.4 95.8 94.1 97.4 102.2 + 3.0 Bacon: back, smoked lb. 58.4 58.7 50.9 58.8 63.5 61.0 + 2.6 streaky, smoked lb. 35.9 34.7 29.6 32.7 37.2 34.9 - 1.0 Fish, fresh cod cuts lb. 29.7 33.0 34.2 35.0 36.4 37.8 + 8.1 Margarine ½lb. 10.2 10.2 10.6 10.6 10.6 11.0 + 0.8 Lard lb. 16.6 16.1 16.5 16.0 15.4 16.1 - 0.5 Milk pint 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.5 8.5 9.0 + 1.0 Butter lb. 52.4 38.9 33.9 40.8 45.9 46.4 - 6.0 Cheese lb. 40.7 33.8 33.9 34.7 35.9 38.9 - 1.8 Eggs: large one 4.6 5.9 5.0 4.4 5.1 3.7 - 0.9 standard one 3.1 5.0 3.4 3.2 4.1 2.7 - 0.4 medium one 2.3 3.9 2.6 2.5 3.1 2.0 - 0.3 Potatoes lb. 3.3 2.7 3.5 3.4 3.8 3.7 + 0.4 Cabbage, greens lb. 5.4 4.2 5.0 4.3 4.9 7.0 + 1.6 Onions, ripe lb. 6.0 5.7 6.1 6.8 6.6 6.7 + 0.7 Apples, eating lb. 12.1 11.4 18.8 12.9 12.9 13.4 + 1.3 Oranges lb. 11.9 11.3 14.5 13.2 13.1 14.1 + 2.2 Sugar, white, granulated 2 1b. 15.6 16.1 15.7 16.0 21.5 19.3 + 3.7 Tea lb. 80.4 78.7 77.9 76.5 76.3 75.9 - 4.5 * Bread baked from a proprietary brand of brown flour. Notes:
1. The prices quoted are the average prices at mid-October compiled from material collected by the Department of Employment and Productivity (and formerly the Ministry of Labour).
2. As the method of compilation was altered during 1967, the series is not continuous throughout the whole period for some items.