Dear Sir,
I read with interest your article ONS’s crossed telecom wires raise questions over inflation figures, which references a talk I recently gave about plans to improve the quality adjustments ONS uses when measuring the telecoms sector.
As the piece notes, while this improvement may change the relative size of the telecoms industry within our statistics, it will likely have little or no impact on our overall estimate of GDP.
In addition, there is also no direct read across to consumer price indices such as CPI or CPIH, as these indices are produced separately from national accounts deflators of 'factory gate prices'.
In line with the Bean Review we have a programme of development across the whole of economic statistics. We keep all our prices methods under review but have no plans to revise the back series for either CPI or RPI.
Richard Heys
ONS Deputy Chief Economist