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Passport Agency

Volume 406: debated on Tuesday 3 June 2003

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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 15 May, Official Report, column 436W, on the Passport Agency, if he will make it his policy for all passports posted by the Passport Agency back to the customer to be posted by recorded delivery. [115528]

The UK Passport Service is currently considering options for moving towards secure delivery arrangements for all passports posted back to customers. Expressions of interest to tender for the provision of a service which meets this requirement were invited through an advertisement published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC). The closing date for responses was the end of May 2003. All of the responses received have now been considered and formal invitations to tender will be issued by 6 June 2003. The tenders are expected to be evaluated and a decision made on the award of a contract by mid-August 2003. It is envisage that the solution would be implemented in November 2003.The provision of any form of secure delivery has cost implications which cannot be met solely through the existing passport fee. It is therefore likely that the introduction of a secure delivery system will be linked to an increase in the passport fee.