§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made towards establishing the passport department as an executive agency; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerI am pleased to announce that the passport department of the Home Office will be established as an executive agency on 2 April. The full title of the agency will be the United Kingdom Passport Agency. I shall be placing a copy of the agency's framework document in the Library.
The main aim of the passport agency will be to provide passport services to British nationals promptly and economically. The agency will be starting from a sound base in fulfilling this aim. I am confident that the enhanced freedoms and responsibilities which the framework document grants to it will enable it to deliver further improvements in its service to customers while providing better value for money.
The key targets which I have set the agency for its first year of operation are:
- (i) to reduce the time taken to process properly completed, straightforward applications to a maximum of 20 working days in the period of peak demand from January to July and to a maximum of 10 working days at other times.
- (ii) to reduce unit costs by at least 2.3 per cent. in real terms.
The chief executive will be directly accountable to me for the performance of the passport agency. An advisory board including two private sector members with experience of delivering services to the public will help me to assess the agency's performance.