§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is the practice of the Passport Office to send passports to applicants by unregistered mail; and what steps are being taken to issue substitute passports in the case dealt with in a letter from the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury of 2 June to the Minister of State.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Passport Office normally sends passports to applicants by ordinary first class post. In those rare cases, like those mentioned by the hon. Member, where passports go astray in the post between the Passport Office and applicants, replacement passports are issued. Whenever possible, inquiries about the missing postal packages are made first. To despatch all passports by registered post would add considerably to the operating costs of the Passport Office. I am writing to the hon. Member about the particular circumstances dealt with in his letter of 2 June.