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Consumer Prices Index

Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply. Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Lord German, dated May 2011. As Director-General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the review of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Retail Prices Index (RPI) will include a review of the reasons why the difference between these two indices is larger in Britain than in other European Union and Commonwealth countries. [HL9225]. ONS has been asked by the UK Statistics Authority to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the CPI and the RPI as macroeconomic measures of inflation and as compensation indices. In response to this request, the ONS intends to publish this summer an article that will describe the main current consumer price indices and future plans including the production of further variants. On current plans, it is likely that this article will also include an overview of the differences between the national CPI (RPI) and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (CPI) in the UK and how these compare to the differences between such indices in other countries.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

9225; 727 c335-6WA

Session

2010-12

Related items

Consumer Prices Index
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Written questions
House of Lords

Subjects

Retail prices index Consumer prices index

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk