asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, as measured by the movement in the price of rent, rates, milk, bread and meat up to October, 1971, by how much social security benefits have decreased in purchasing power since the increases given last September.

The prices of these items taken together went up by 1 per cent. in the period from September to October, 1971. The purchasing power of social security benefits, however, cannot be measured by reference to these items alone, since they are only a few of those covered by the General Index of Retail Prices.