asked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether, and on how many occasions, the Price Commission has disallowed a price increase because a productivity scheme has been found not to be self-financing.

The Price Commission assesses price increases in the light of the criteria in section 2 of the Price Commission Act 1977 and does not pay exclusive attention to any one consideration. But the commission regards productivity schemes, and the extent to which they are self-financing, as one of the matters which it takes into account when it considers factors which contribute to increased costs.