asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give a list of articles and commodities which he has freed from price control, showing the price before de-control and the present price.

I am sending to my hon. Friend a list of the price controls

Commodity.		Prices as percentages of January, 1948 price.
		Date when price control was withdrawn	Average for month preceding date shown in Col. 2.	Average for month of October, 1950
1		2	3	4
Rags for paper-making	…	20. 2.50	100·0	152·2
Japanese raw silk	…	1.11.48	84·3	170·4
East African sisal	…	1. 1.49	108·9	177·4
Imported hides	…	2. 1.50	100·6	145·5
Esparto	…	1. 1.50	75·4	149·3
Native cow hides	…	1. 7.50	125·0	159·4
Native ox hides	…	1. 7.50	122·6	157·2
Native calf-skins	…	1. 7.50	144·4	238·7
Waste paper	…	20. 2.50	100·0	101·8
Woodpulp	…	1. 4.50	63·2	118·7
Non-utility serge cloth	…	1. 5.50	148·6	176·3
Worsted weaving yarn	…	1. 5.50	162·6	230·5
Botany weaving yarn	…	1. 5.50	157·8	228·7
Cross-bred weaving yarn	…	1. 5.50	125·4	292·5
Cotton yarns	…	27. 4.49	123·0	199·7

The figures relate only to the grades of commodities included in the Wholesale Price Index; it cannot be assumed that the percentages provide accurate indices for all grades, etc., of the products. For most of the other items in the list, which covers a great diversity of goods, including many where different traders charge different prices for similar articles, the Board of Trade cannot provide data enabling detailed comparisons to be drawn between the present-day prices and the prices before the controls were withdrawn.