Letter: Inflation lives

I WAS pleased to read your article on the tinkering by Government with the Retail Price Index ('Treasury tinkers with price index to fiddle inflation', Business, 28 November). I have written to the Consumers Association to find out how the RPI is calculated. It advised me to write to the Central Statistical Office, which I have done, without reply to date.

I have calculated that my normal outgoings, fairly typical of most households in this part of the country, have all gone up by more than the rate of inflation, as increases on the following bills show: council tax, 25.67 per cent; Welsh Water, 9.17 per cent; S Wales Electricity, 30.31 per cent; British Telecom, 20.44 per cent; house insurance, 25.86 per cent; car insurance, 23.84 per cent; vehicle excise duty, 13.63 per cent; MOT, 20 per cent; television licence, 3.9 per cent; food prices, 3.4 per cent.

So many things are dependent on the RPI that an independent check on the basis of the calculation should now be carried out.

A Jones

Penderyn, nr Aberdare