§ Dame Elaine Kellett-BowmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on the components of the retail prices index of the member states of the European Community.
§ Mr. LeeThe prices index for the European Community is a simple average of the consumer price indices produced by individual member states. In each case the coveragte of goods and services in the national index conforms broadly to the classification of household consumption established by thc Community's Statistical Office (the European System of Ingegrated Economic Accounts, ESA), the main components of which are:
- Food, beverages and tobacco.
- Clothing and footwear
- Gross rent, fuel and power.
- Furniture, furnishings and household equipment and operation.
- Medical Care and health expenses.
- Transport and communication.
- Recreation, entertainment, education and cultural services.
- Miscellaneous goods and services.
However, the precise definition of the component categories differs from one country to another. In particular, in the "gross rent" category most of the national indices include imputed rents to represent the "shelter" costs faced by owner-occupiers, whereas the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland include mortgage interest payments for this purpose.
§ Dame Elaine Kellett-BowmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to whether any country other than the United Kingdom includes mortgage interest payments in their retail prices index.
§ Mr. LeeMortgage interest payments are included in the consumer price indices of the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and a number of smaller countries throughout the world.