§ Baroness Jegerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will consider excluding tobacco and alcohol from their calculations of the retail price index in fairness to people who do not buy these items.
§ Lord CockfieldIn compiling the retail price index the Department of Employment follows the principle that it should have a comprehensive rather than a restricted coverage. The purpose of the index is to cover all the goods and services purchased by households in general and to provide for these an overall measure of the changes from month to month in their prices. The weights given to the various items of goods and services are determined by the annual family expenditure survey and so reflect the fact that some people do not purchase tobacco and alcohol. The principle of comprehensive rather than restricted coverage has been affirmed by the RPI Advisory Committee and is broadly in line with the practice of other countries.