§ 70 and 71. Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) the administrative costs of issuing a passport and of renewing one, respectively;
(2) what was the revenue received in the last financial year, or in the latest available period, from issuing and renewing passports; and by how much this exceeded the administrative costs.
§ Mr. R. AllanPassport officers are required to deal with all types of passport applications. It is not, therefore, possible to differentiate accurately between the cost 5W of issuing a new passport and renewing an old one. The revenue received in the last financial year from the issue and renewal of passports in the United Kingdom was £1,149,797. This exceeded administrative costs in the United Kingdom by approximately £524,000. These figures refer to the United Kingdom only.
Passports are, of course, also issued and renewed abroad as one of the functions of our embassies and consulates.
The cost of these cannot be computed exactly. but exceeds the overseas revenue by a considerable sum and has risen sharply in recent years.