HC Deb 18 July 1966 vol 732 c36
47. Mr. Ellis

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will open a passport office in Bristol.

Mrs. White

No, Sir. As I said in reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Bristol, North-East (Mr. Dobson) on 11th July, a new Branch Passport Office is to be opened in 1967 at Newport (Mon.). Newport offers a better supply of clerical labour, of which there is some shortage in Bristol, and was chosen largely for that reason.

Mr. Ellis

Would not my hon. Friend agree that, if one is good at mathematics, Bristol is much better situated geographically to deal with the whole of the South-West Region? Is it not the natural centre?

Mrs. White

I am very sorry, but as a good Monmouthshire woman I could not agree.