§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a breakdown of the major factors determining the discrepancy between the relative price effect for 1975–76 as projected in Command 137W Paper No. 5879 and the outturn, distinguishing between the contributions in £ sterling million and percentage terms of the basic price indices of public sector activities referred to in page 69 of the Public Expenditure White Paper handbook on Methodology.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe relative price effect in 1975–76—on a year-to-year basis—is now estimated as minus £850 million—at 1975–76 prices—compared with the estimate in Cmnd. 5879 of minus £137 million—at 1974–75 prices. Costs are now estimated to have risen less—relative to the GDP deflator—than was assumed last year. In particular, the relative rise in wages and salaries was significantly less than estimated and it is believed that average prices paid for land will prove to have fallen absolutely.