Passport Fees (Hansard, 18 July 2003)

§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)

The Privy Council late yesterday made an order, the Consular Fees Order 2003, which will increase passport fees with effect from 2 October 2003. Full details are set out in the order, which will be made on 29 July.

The fee for a passport applied for by post or through the UK Passport Service's high street partners will increase from £33 to £42 for a standard 32-page passport, and from £19 to £25 for a passport for a child.

The fee for a passport applied for through the guaranteed one-week fast-track service will increase from £63 to £70 for a standard 32-page passport, and from £49 to £60 for a passport for a child.

The fee for a passport applied for through the guaranteed same-day premium service (available only for passport renewals) will increase from £78 to £89 for a standard 32-page passport, and from £64 to £71 for a passport for a child.

A new fast-track collect service will be made available for those using the fast-track service to opt to collect their passport from a passport office instead of having it posted. This involves the higher costs of production at a passport office instead of the central printing press where the majority of passports are produced, which will be reflected in higher fees.

The order will also increase fees for applications made overseas to British consular posts. The fee for a standard 32-page passport will increase from £54.50 to £56.50 and the fee for a child passport will increase from £34.70 to £36.50.

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In the UK there will no longer be a separate fee for amending passports. Where a person wishes to amend the personal details shown, a new 10-year passport will be issued. British consular posts overseas will continue to offer an amendment service if requested.

From early 2004, at the majority of British consular posts overseas, a new temporary passport costing £45.60 and valid for up to 12 months and for multiple journeys will be available to travellers who have lost their passports or had them stolen, and need to continue their journey quickly. The target turn round time for issue of a standard passport is five days.

Fees for 48-page passports will also be increased, but collective passport fees for organised school trips will not change.

The average increase in UK passport fees is £8.71. This is a substantial increase made necessary by several factors. Most importantly, it allows investment in the security and integrity of British passports. and improvement in customer service, to continue. Susbtantial work is in hand in the following key areas:

Introduction of biometrics in passports—this is necessary to improve security, meet new International Civil Aviation Organisation standards and allow continued UK participation in the US visa waiver programme.

Addressing problems associated with passports lost, stolen and lost in the post—initiatives include a new database to allow better control and sharing of information on missing passports, tighter procedures for replacing missing passports, developing arrangments to send all new passports by secure delivery methods.

Identity confirmation—initiatives include creating a single database for British passports issued in the UK and at all British consular posts overseas and trials of identity checking through a range of public and private sector databases.

Fraud detection and prevention—new fraud investigation units have been established in passport offices, staff training is being enhanced, analysis of management information is being improved and an exhaustive check on past applications to detect trends is being undertaken.

Customer service—substantial improvements in the electronic application route are being developed, call handling arrangements are being improved, and the Liverpool passport office is moving to new premises with better public facilities.

The increase is also needed to meet an obligation to repay previously accrued deficits to HM Treasury by October 2004, currently amounting to £26m. The Passport Service has found savings of £10m from its current budget in order to deliver efficiency savings and constrain the level of fee increases while pursuing the UKPS fraud prevention programme.