HC Deb 29 January 2004 vol 417 cc448-9W
Mr. Wiggin

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the(a) RPI, (b) RPI-X and (c) CPI was for Wales in each year since 1997. [151761]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Bill Wiggin, dated 29 January 2004

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) RPI, (b) RPI-X and(c) CPI was for Wales in each year since 1997. I am replying in his absence. (151761)

The RPI. RPIX and CPI are calculated and published for the United Kingdom only. Comparable indices for Wales, or any of the regions or countries of the UK, are not produced because the data required to make such calculations to an appropriate degree of accuracy are not available.

However, ONS published updated regional price levels in November 2003, in an article entitled Relative Regional Consumer Price Levels in 2003, available from the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/article.asp?ID = 612

The data represent part of a longer-term project to develop regional price data, and reflect the need for this information expressed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2003 Budget Statement.