asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures for 1980 and 1981 for a married man with two children earning average male manual earnings, showing the length of time, after taking into account income tax liability and national insurance contribution, necessary to pay for each of the following items: weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling, mortgage repayment on a newly built three-bedroomed semi-detached house, 3 lbs of beef sirloin, 2 lbs of fresh cod, 14 lbs of potatoes, a large loaf, ½ lb of tea, a quart of fresh milk, 5 cwt. of best coal, 5 gallons of petrol, a weekly season ticket between Surbiton and London, postage on five letters, a telegram of 12 words, a gentleman's haircut, 20 cigarettes, a pint of beer and a bottle of whisky.
[pursuant to his reply, 12 March 1982, c. 513.]: The following is the information requested, calculated in minutes, and based on average retail prices at mid-October each year unless otherwise stated. I regret that information on a gentleman's haircut is not available.The figures for 1980 include small statistical revisions from those provided in answer to a similar question from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North-East (Mrs. Short) on 13 February 1981. —[Vol. 998, c. 451.]
| United Kingdom Support Price1 £ltonne | Estimated World Prices 2 £/tonne | Common Levy 3 £/tonne | United Kingdom MCA3 £/tonne | United Kingdom Net Levy 3·9 p/lb | |
| Beef and veal | 1,790·26 | 950·02 | 906·64 | 136·38 | 43·98 |
| Sheepmeat | 2,072·99 | 1,717·60 | 5n a | n/a | n/a |
| Pigmeat | 850·16 | 732·53 | 235·52 | 68·86 | 12·94 |
| Poultrymeat | 841·19 | 611·87 | 167·90 | 18·12 | 7·82 |
| Eggs | 733·48 | 512·08 | 170·01 | 21·14 | 8·05 |
| Milk£/litre | 0·146 | 6n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Butter | 1,966·33 | 1,220·03 | 825·78 | 159·27 | 741·65 |
| Skimmed milk powder | 819·41 | 546·48 | 340·63 | 66·37 | 17·21 |
| Common wheat | 124·05 | 86·18 | 54·40 | 9·26 | 2·69 |
| Barley | 111·92 | 86·30 | 41·56 | 8·28 | 2·11 |
| 1980 | 1981 | |
| Average weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling (April figures) | 227·7 | 308·9 |
| Repayment in first month of 25 years mortgage, based on average advance on | ||
| new dwelling at mortgage completion | 5,615·4 | 5,673·2 |
| 31b. of beef sirloin (without bone) home killed, first quality | 184·4 | 1815–8 |
| 21b. of fresh cod fillets | 63·1 | 58·5 |
| 141b. of potatoes—white | 21·2 | 29·6 |
| 800g wrapped and sliced white bread | 9·6 | 9·5 |
| ½lb. of medium quality tea | 14·4 | 13·2 |
| Quart of fresh milk | 9·6 | 9·5 |
| 250kg of higher quality household coal* | 566·8 | 587·5 |
| 5 gallons of 4-star petrol | 181·1 | 215·3 |
| Postage on five letters (first-class) | 16·8 | 18·1 |
| 20 filter tip cigarettes (recommended price)† | 20·2 | 25·0 |
| 1 pint of beer, bottled and canned | 15·5 | 16·6 |
| 1 bottle of whisky (based on 75cl bottle at 40 per cent. alcohol by volume) | 154·4 | 167·6 |
| Weekly season ticket between Surbiton and London (second-class) | 207·8 | 236·0 |
| 12 word telegram (inland, including VAT) | 71·0 | 98·0 |
| * The kinds of coal available for domestic supplies vary according to the district. The prices used are the average for seven large towns. | ||
| † In some shops the price of a packet of 20 was between 2p and 3p lower in October 1980, and between 3p and 4p lower in October 1981. | ||