§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to increase the fees for passports and for consular services.
§ Mr. RowlandsYes. An Order in Council has been published today which provides for increases with effect from 15th March.
Costs of consular services have doubled since consular fees were fixed in 1971, and in general consular fees will now be raised sufficiently to meet the extra costs. The fee for a standard passport will rise from £6 to £8 and there are commensurate increases in other passport service fees. The fee for a British visitor's passport, the issuing cost of which have risen fourfold since 1971, will rise from £3 to £4.