HL Deb 24 February 1959 vol 214 cc440-1
LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the immigration authorities have a legal right to insist that a British subject hands his passport for examination on leaving the United Kingdom.]

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, under the Aliens Order, 1953, any adult person leaving this country may be required to furnish evidence of identity and nationality, for which purpose he is normally asked to produce his passport.

LORD REA

My Lords, would the Government consider rescinding that regulation?

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, not so far as I am aware.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the identity or existence of the recommender, or his signature, on a passport application form is checked before a new passport is issued.]

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)

My Lords, the identity or existence of every recommender or his signature is not checked before a new passport is issued. To do so would involve considerable delay and inconvenience to about 700,000 people each year, and I could not recommend this extension of red tape. But I can give the noble Lord the assurance, which I imagine he seeks by his Question, that the number of passports obtained by means of false declarations is a very insignificant fraction of those issued.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I thank my noble Leader for that Answer, but what I am seeking is something quite different. In view of the fact that this particular piece of procedure apparently serves no useful purpose in preventing people who should not have them from getting passports, and gives an extreme amount of trouble to honest people, who I now hear are 700,000 in number every year, would Her Majesty's Government consider doing away with this bit of red tape?

THE EARL OF HOME

My Lords, I believe I have answered the Question on the Paper. I do not think the existing procedure causes inconvenience. I have looked at the number of offences compared with the total of people affected, and those who abuse the system are only a small fraction of 1 per cent. of the whole. There must be some check, but I think the existing practice—although I will look at it again—does reduce the inconvenience to citizens to a minimum.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I am sorry to press my noble Leader, but may I ask if there is any check? When one has to get a new passport, does it not cause a considerable amount of trouble to the person who has to get a recommender and to the recommender who has to do the certifying? It must involve a good many man-hours per year.

VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH

My Lords, surely we do not want to have an announcement made that there is never a check on this matter. That would open much too wide a gate to the small number who do want to abuse the regulations.

THE EARL OF HOME

My Lords, I do not think it is in the public interest, as the noble Viscount the Leader of the Opposition has said, to divulge the present practice, but from my examination, I think the minimum of inconvenience is caused.

LORD HAWKE

My Lords, how are the Government aware of the number of passports obtained by false pretences?

THE EARL OF HOME

Our Intelligence Service is very good.