Consuming Interest
Cost of Living
ADRIAN • By LESLIE
CAT food and dog biscuits are just two of the more surprising items included in the list of commodities priced to calculate the Index of Retail Prices (in- accurately known to most of us as the Cost of Living Index).
The index should not be taken as more than a guide to the price movements of a range of commodities and services on which a sample of households spend their money. There are 350 goods and services included (income tax, trade union subscriptions and the Pools are among the 'services' excluded) and the sample consisted of 13,000 households, which co-opera- tively kept records of their purchases. Families where the breadwinner had a gross income of £20+ in 1953, and those living mainly on pen- sions or National Assistance were dropped from the calculations, leaving 11,638 households in the sample.
Those households which took part in the last expenditure inquiry (that was in 1953-54) were chosen from a broad regional representation, and since there have been several important events affecting the price index since then, the Ministry of Labour has issued a booklet explaining the method of calculation of the Index of Retail Prices (Stationery Office, 2s. 6d.). Among the major changes which have had to be taken into account are the removal of price control on house- hold coal and coke in July last year, the increase in the number of privately-rented dwellings since the operation of the Rent Act, 1957, and the grow- ing habit of retailers of selling branded goods at cut prices. On this last point the Ministry collects information on the prices being charged for branded goods in each locality where there is one of its offices, usually taking samples of prices from five shops in each of the 200 areas every month.
It is sometimes said that the basis of the index has been changed too often to make it possible to see how much a 'basket' of goods and services costs now compared with ten years ago, or with 1938. But the purpose of the index is not really to provide such information; its main aim is to give as clear an idea as possible of price move- ments for the use of, say, trade unions with sliding-scale wage agreements based on the index• The 1947 'interim' index which was in force until January, 1952, when the present index came into being, was an emergency measure to fill the gap created by the dating of the old 1913 index, which had become useless.
The present one is highly sophisticated in its coverage including, for example, quick-frozen peas (the only frozen food in the 'basket'), tonic water, smart shoes, secondhand cars (but not new ones), cinema seats and television -rentals (but not theatre seats), periodicals and books (including children's comics), and every house- hold appliance—vacuum cleaner, cooker, wash- ing machine, sewing machine, etc.—except a re- frigerator. Group lI of the ten groups of goods and services is rather severely named Alcoholic Drink. The only items listed are beer and stout, whisky and gin, and tonic water. If whisky, why not wine?
• • It would be excusable for a column devoted to consumer advice to lament the delay of nearly half a century between the passing of the Fabrics (Misdescription Act), 1913, and the revision of the Fabrics (Misdescription) Regula- tions, 1959, which apply from May 11. These regulations define new standards of non-inflam- mability for textile fabrics, if they are to be law- fully labelled for sale as 'flameproof,' and represent a partial triumph for Mrs. Jean Mann, MP, and her stalwart and persistent supporters, who have been campaigning for a long time for legislation which would at least reduce the number of deaths and injuries in the home every year, caused by clothing catching fire. The annual average num- ber of deaths from this cause is still over 300.
I call it a partial triumph because, although it will no longer be possible to label a garment flameproof unless it conforms to a British Standard there is still no real protection of the public from the dangers inherent in the purchase of highly inflammable night clothes for children, or those frilly party frocks which burn like tinder.
The new regulations lay down two standards. One refers to fabrics which are described by the maker as non-inflammable, the other to fabrics for which any degree of flame resistance is claimed. The old regulations, which have applied since 1914, set quite strict standards of flame resistance but less effective tests of the durability of the flame-proofing process applied to the cloth. A treatment which would stand up to four wash- ings in soap and water was good enough to be acceptable.
Under the new regulations British Standard BS3120 (Materials for flame proof clothing) must be, satisfied. It states that if such a material is ignited the flame must die out within eight seconds and that the burn must not be longer than four and a half inches. Most of the new synthetic fibres conform to this standard without treatment. Others have to be chemically treated, and the regulations insist that such treatments should sur- vive normal laundering. (Which does not in- clude boiling and bleaching.) The standard for fabrics of low flammability, BS3121, re- quires that a flame will not take less than 150 seconds to travel 100 inches up a strip of the fabric. This allows a reasonable safety margin, and is approved by the British Standards Com- mittee on the Flammability of Apparel Fabrics as a protection against domestic burning accidents.
One of the best-known flameproofing treatments is Proban, which has been applied to children's clothes, dress fabrics and industrial clothing for some time. I have set fire to three different materials treated by this method, a. voile dress fabric, a printed winceyette, and a cotton fabric suitable for overalls or nurses' uni- form. In each case the flame went out after a few seconds, there was no smouldering and the charred area was quite small. I noticed that the voile would burn vigorously if the flame were persistently applied, and it does seem that this is not one of the easier materials to proof. However, on the whole I should be inclined to believe that Proban proofing is effective, although I have not been able to give it the full BS3120 treatment. Names of retail stores selling Proban-treated gar- ments and fabrics may be obtained from Proban Limited, 127 Royal Exchange, Manchester 2.
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