§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) on how many occasions the same valid premium bond number purchased in the first month of 27W issue has won a prize more than (a)once, (b)twice and (c)three times;
(2) in how many cases valid premium bonds purchased in the first month of issue are still without a win;
(3) on how many occasions valid premium bond numbers in the EZ-LB series purchased in the first month of issue have won prizes of £1,000 or over;
(4) how many valid premium bonds in the EZ and LB series purchased in the first month of issue are still without a win.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI regret the information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions valid premium bonds purchased in the first month of issue have been available for selection.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesAll bonds purchased in the first month of issue—November 1956—were included in the first draw in June 1957 and, unless they have been repaid, have participated in all 226 monthly and 399 weekly draws held since.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the checks and counterchecks applied at various stages of the premium bond process to prevent error or statistical imbalance by Ernie.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesA number of technical tests by the manufacturers and statistical tests approved by the Government Actuary's Department are carried out before, during and after the generation of a prize draw to ensure the randomness of selection. The results of each generation are forwarded for further independent tests to the Government actuary, who then certifies that the tests give no reason to doubt that Ernie generated a random sample and that each eligible bond unit had an equal chance of being drawn for a prize.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether analyses are carried out for a longer period than one month on results of premium bond draws; and, if so, how frequently.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesNo. Each month's results are checked in detail and nothing would appear to be gained by rechecking28W or by examining the results for a combination of months.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how frequently the numerical register of premium bonds is checked per year.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesBonds are checked twice within 12 months of filing. Thereafter all bonds are checked in a continuous cycle every two years.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how frequently the administrators of premium bonds check the accuracy of repaid numbers recorded on a magnetic tape file; and what method they use for these checks.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesWhen the records of repaid bonds were first set up on a magnetic tape, a print out of the tape was verified against individual manual records. Any bond number, subsequently added to the tape, which is matched by a random number generated in a prize draw is checked against the individual manual record. Only after the bond has been thus cerified as repaid is the random number, drawn for a prize, rejected.