To ask Her Majesty's Government how many United Kingdom passports were reported (a) lost, and (b) stolen, during each of the past five calendar years; and how many of those were lost in transit between the Identity and Passport Service and the recipient. [HL2465]

The attached table sets out the total number of UK passports that have been recorded as lost, stolen or recovered since 2005. The category “other” is used by the Identity and Passport Service predominantly when a passport is declared damaged or destroyed.

The second table attached sets out how many new passports were recorded as lost or stolen in transit during the delivery process for the past five years. These figures are incorporated into the lost and stolen figures in the first table attached.

The periods in the table above reflect the commencement of the current secure delivery arrangements in February 2004. IPS is still collating the data for the period since September 2009, but the indications are that the fall in the rate of loss is continuing. This is attributed to the use of handheld GPS units to support deliveries, introduced at the end of 2008.