§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the years since 1975 in which the percentage increase in the retail price of goods has exceeded the increase in the price of services.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe information requested is not available at present as there are no unique definitions of goods or services in the retail prices index. However, the central statistical office is currently working on a goods and services breakdown of the RPI and hope to be able to publish such a breakdown dating back to 1987 in the February 1995 RPI business monitor, MM23.