§ Mr. Fittasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether it is the practice of the economic sections of the Northern Ireland Office to publish a figure for the cost of living in Northern Ireland by region; and, if not, for what reasons;
(2) what are the Government's present figures for the cost of living in the London area; and how this compares with the figure for the Northern Ireland region:
(3) what are the latest available figures for the cost of living in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. GoldingSeparate retail prices indices for Northern Ireland, Greater London or other regions of the United Kingdom are not produced.
The matter was considered by the Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee which took the view that it was possible to produce regional indices although there would be considerable technical problems to overcome and also increases in costs. The members of the Committee were not agreed on the desirability of producing such indices, and the Government have no present plans to do so.