To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dispatched passports have been reported lost since November 2007; and what estimate he has made of the number of such lost passports that may have been stolen. (316794)

During the period November 2007 to September 2009, the latest date for which information is available, 1,135 passports, 0.01 per cent. of those produced, were recorded as lost during the delivery process.

Of these, 115 are recorded as lost as a result of theft from a courier or courier’s vehicle, and 16 as misplaced within the delivery process.

The remainder are recorded as lost due to misposting by couriers.