§ Mr. Fieldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects (a) to pay out the last prizes of premium bonds due to the industrial action and (b) to begin to pay out a level of prizes equal to the revenue which would be gained if the value of bonds were lent at bank rate.
§ Mr. LawsonThe temporary changes to the prize structure which I announced in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Horsham and Crawley (Mr. Hordern) on 25 May [Vol. 967, c.304–5] should enable the work of processing premium savings bond prizes to be brought up to date by the end of the year.
719WThe rate of interest on which the monthly prize fund is determined is kept under review and was last increased on 1 January this year. I have no plans at present for a further increase. All prizes are free of United Kingdom income tax and capital gains tax.