To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have applied for a passport in each of the last eight years; and how many of those who have applied were rejected due to the applicant's (a) criminal record and (b) antisocial behaviour in each year. (80308)

The number of passport applications received by the Identity and Passport Service (formerly UKPS) in each of the last eight calendar years is in the following table.

A criminal record or a record of antisocial behaviour does not disqualify a British national from holding a passport and applicants are not required to give this information. If notified by the police, the IPS would refuse a passport to a person for whose arrest a warrant had been issued in the United Kingdom, or a person who was wanted by the United Kingdom police on suspicion of a serious crime.