Falklands : Cost of Living Committee Report
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 24.10.2005 (Article Archived on 07.11.2005)
Find out what happened in this vital committee meeting.
COMMITTEE NEWS: COST OF LIVING COMMITTEE
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Cost of Living Committee took place at 1000 hrs on Friday, 21 October 2005 in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat. Present were Cllr. the Hon Mr. Mike Summers, The Financial Secretary Mr Derek Howatt (Chair) Mr. David Castle, Major Retailers’ Representative, Miss Nikki Buxton, Synergy Representative and Mr. Fred Simpson, GEU Representative. Apologies came from Mrs Karen Lee, the Chamber of Commerce Representative.
Confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 22 July 2005 was signed by the Chairman, Mr. Derek Howatt.
The review of the Price Collection Sheets for the quarter ended 30 September 2005 produced the following results: The index and Schedule of Points of change above one point include that of minced mutton that had risen in august but hadn’t changed in some time. A time reference was not indicated. Government rent went up by 3.5% on 01 July and was reflected in the last quarter’s report.
During the quarter the price of Kero went from 46p to 51p and back down to 48p. Heating Diesel went up 3 points and vehicle diesel by 1.6%. Electricity went up from 13.5p to 15p – a 3 point rise.
The odd one out – toilet roll – went up because local stocks ran out and the Falkland Islands Company purchased a consignment from the NAAFI. Once stocks arrive then the price should go down.
That’s an overall increase if the cost of living of 6% with 71% of that increase related to fuel. Cllr Summers mentioned that we would be seeing price rises coming through in many areas due to the high cost of fuel.
A discussion followed on the relevancy of the 19 top items in the food basket and it was noted that it hasn’t been changed since 1997. The list will be looked at and a report will be given in the December meeting.
It is important to note here that Year 11 + students on work experience with Synergy Information Systems Limited did the data collection and entry.
The meeting ended at 1012 hrs.
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