§ Mr. Oakesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will hold discussions with other EEC countries to obtain a common system of security to prevent the forgery of passports;
(2) what research has been conducted to ensure the security of British passports against forgery;
(3) what steps he is taking to ensure that British passports are protected from forgery by the highest standards of modern technology;
(4) how many instances of forged British passports have been discovered by his Department in each of the last five years;
(5) if he is satisfied with the security of the present British passport against forgery; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonNo passport can be immune from abuse, and a careful watch is therefore maintained by the passport department and the immigration service to check such abuse of British passports. In 1986, the only complete year for which figures are available, some 170 cases were recorded where passport details had been altered in various ways, and nine counterfeit documents were discovered. The security features to be incorporated in the common EC format machine readable passport due for issue from July 1988 will take account of experience gained so far.
444WWhile adopting common security features in all EC passports would not necessarily have operational advantages, there is close co-operation with our European partners. During its presidency of the Community last year, the United Kingdom prompted an initiative further to enhance this co-operation by ensuring the exchange of information and expertise so that, where abuse is detected, all states are able to respond to it,