§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will publish in the Official Report the average annual rate of inflation for each of the following periods: July 1945 to October 1951, October 1951 to October 1964, October 1964 to June 1970, June 1970 to February 1974 and February 1974 to the latest available date.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe increases are as follows:
850W
Retail Prices in the UK (per cent per annum) July 1945—October 1951 3.8 October 1951—October 1964 3.1 October 1964—June 1970 5.1 June 1970—February 1974 9.5 February 1974—February 1979 15.5 the following items, using March 1974 as a base of 100: electricity, gas, domestic coal, postage—second class letter, telephone—private subscriber local call, rail fares, bus fares, motoring costs and finished steel.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe information is set out below. Separate indices are not available for bus fares, so figures have been given for total fares and the rail fares component. The motoring costs index includes a small element of cycling costs. From movements in the intervening years, it will be seen that the increases were concentrated in the first half of the period and, in the case of a number of the nationalised industries, reflected in part the phasing-out of accumulated deficits.
Source:
- The cost of living index
- The interim index of retail prices
- The general index of retail prices Department of Employment