asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the tax and price index.

In October 1981 the level of the tax and price index was 158·2—Jartuary 1978 = 100. In October 1982 it stood at 169·9, an increase of 7·4 per cent. on a year earlier.The year-on-year increase in the tax and price index is not a measure of the annual rate of inflation as such. This is better provided by the RPI itself. The tax and price index provides a guide to the average increase in gross taxable income needed to compensate taxpayers for an increase in retail prices.