§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if pensioner households are excluded from the construction of the general index of retail prices;
(2) what proportion of household expenditure by oneand two-person pensioner households is spent on (a) housing, (b) fuel, light and power and (c) food—excluding meals bought away from home—what has been the latest annual increase in prices of these categories of expenditure; and if he will show comparisons for all households of these figures;
(3) why housing is excluded from the two special indices of retail prices used for one and two-person pensioner households;
(4) if, in order to ensure a more effective uprating of national insurance supplementary and other social security benefits, he will introduce a low-income family retail price index to reflect the special expenditure patterns of such families;
(5) how many members of one or two-person pensioner households are members of the retail price index advisory committee; what proportion of members of the committee this represents: and how this compares with the proportion of male and female pensioners in the population as a whole.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.