Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1964.
Mr Cyril Bence
, Dunbartonshire East
12:00,
30 June 1964
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer what has been the percentage increase in the level of prices each year since 1951; and what estimate he has made of what proportion of the increase in Government expenditure as laid down in Cmnd. 2235 may be accounted for by an increase of the level of prices.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
On the first part of the Question, it depends on what prices the hon. Member has in mind. There are several published price indices, and they have not all moved in the same way. On the second part of the Question, none of the increase in Government expenditure shown in Command Paper No. 2235 is attributable to price increases because, as is explained in paragraphs 5 and 11 of the white paper, the calculations are at constant prices.
Mr Cyril Bence
, Dunbartonshire East
Do we take it from the right hon. Gentleman that the assumption is that there will be no increase in price in the next three years, and if that is so, why is it that in the £360 million there is no provision for increased pensions?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
There is no such assumption as the hon. Member seeks to read into my Answer or into the white paper. It is the normal, and, I think, helpful, practice, in order that comparisons shall have reality, to express documents of this kind in constant prices without making any assumption necessarily as to the course of prices over the period covered.
Mr. J. T. Price:
The right hon. Gentleman has stalled the question by saying that there is a difficulty in providing the statistics. If there had been a fall in prices over the period mentioned instead of a dramatic rise, would the right hon. Gentleman be standing at the Dispatch Box putting forward a statistical excuse for not giving information which the House is entitled to have?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
I am not saying that there is any defect in the materials that I have. If there be a defect, then, with all due respect, it is in the Question.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
If you've ever seen inside the Commons, you'll notice a large table in the middle - upon this table is a box, known as the dispatch box. When members of the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet address the house, they speak from the dispatch box. There is a dispatch box for the government and for the opposition. Ministers and Shadow Ministers speak to the house from these boxes.
