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Dear
Mr Moss,
Thank you for you letter of 17 August to Danny Alexander
MP regarding passport fees. This has been passed to me for reply.
The current adult passport fee is £77.50. Price
increases over the past ten years have been driven mainly by a number
of service changes and other factors including: an increase in consular
premiums; the introduction of ePassports; authentication by interview
for first time passport applicants; secure delivery; a number of anti-fraud
initiatives and forecast demand.
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is required to
generate enough income from passport fees to cover no more than the
cost of issuing passports and providing support services such as our
Adviceline, plus a contribution towards the cost of emergency consular
assistance to British passport holders when travelling overseas.
Below
is a breakdown of the elements that make up the adult passport fee for
the past ten years:
|
|
May 1990
|
May 1995
|
May 2000
|
May 2005
|
June 2010
|
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
| Application processing |
10.95
|
13.05
|
21.27
|
24.35
|
31.60
|
| FCO Consular Premium |
-
|
-
|
-
|
9.65
|
15.62
|
| Production & Personalisation of Book |
-
|
-
|
-
|
5.00
|
10.79
|
| Delivery |
-
|
-
|
-
|
3.00
|
3.30
|
| Overhead / Administration |
4.05
|
4.95
|
6.73
|
-
|
16.19
|
| Total |
£15.00
|
£18.00
|
£28.00
|
£42.00
|
£77.50
|
Prior
to November 2002, costs were only split between direct passport production
(application processing) and indirect overhead (administrative) costs.
The proportion of the fee which is passed to the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO) to fund the provision of consular services for British
travellers overseas was formalised in 2002-03. Prior to this a surplus
agreed with the Treasury was made and credited to the FCO. Prior to
2002-03 the cost of passport book production was included in application
processing costs. Secure Delivery was introduced in 2003-04 and earlier
distribution costs are included in application processing.
Whilst there are no current plans to make any changes
to passport fees, we will review fees for different types of application
when the fees for passports are next revised to ensure value for money.
The article that you refer to in your letter from the
Number 10 website
(https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/https://www.number10.gov.uk/page10364)
relates to early plans to issue a package of an identity card and a
passport together: "Our current estimate is that a combined passport
and ID card package will cost you together a unit cost of £93
per person. To put this in context the standard fee for the new ePassport
is £66 today." The price estimate given was for the two documents,
not solely a passport.
The
integration of fingerprint data into the passport has been halted. At
the same time we are determined that the passport, through its combination
of physical and electronic security features, remains a highly secure
and trusted document meeting rigorous international standards. That's
why, from October this year, we are introducing a new internal design
for the passport. The new design has improved physical security features
which will help keep the passport secure. By ensuring that the passport
remains a highly secure and trusted document it gives people the freedom
to move around the world, often without the need for visas, together
with speedier passage through border controls.
I hope you find this information useful.
Yours
sincerely,
Al[a]stair Bridges
Executive Director
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