HC Deb 23 May 1975 vol 892 cc652-3W
Mr. Prescott

asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what has been the yearly increase in the price of fish in the retail and wholesale price indices in the last three years and for each month from January 1974.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

The index of retail fish prices quoted below is the fish sub-group of the Retail Price Index. This sub-group covers fresh fish, fish fingers, canned sardines and canned salmon. The wholesale price index quoted is that for home landings of fish going to processors for use in manufactured foods such as canned fish and fish paste. Its coverage is, therefore, different from that of the retail price index; but there is no index of wholesale prices which can be linked directly with retail prices for fish as sold by fishmongers.

for a family of two parents and two children, a single person, a pensioner couple, a childless couple of working age and a couple with four children, respectively.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

The analyses requested cannot be produced in the time available. However, average retail prices for many food items are published monthly in the Department of Employment Gazette, and the National Food Survey Committee's Annual Report shows patterns of expenditure on food by households of different compositions. The Annual Report of the Family Expenditure Survey gives expenditure patterns for all categories of consumption, including food, according to income groups.