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Written Question
British Nationality: Republic of Ireland
Monday 7th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 November (HL11562), what the process to register as a British citizen for Irish citizens born before 1983 to English mothers involves; and whether the grant is automatic as in the case of those born after 1983.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

Applications for registration can be made using Form UKM which is availa-ble on the Gov.UK website. The person applying must provide information to show that they would have become a British citizen had women been able to pass on citizenship in the same way as men

For people born on or after 1 January 1983, citizenship is normally acquired automatically if the person’s mother was a British citizen and born in the UK.


Written Question
Passports
Monday 3rd December 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 November (HL11239 and HL11240), why Irish citizens born before 1983 with English mothers are treated differently to those with English fathers; and whether they intend to remove this difference.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

British women were unable to pass on their citizenship to children born outside of the UK until 1983.

The change was not made retrospective to avoid issues that could arise around dual nationality. A registration provision has been in place since 2003 to allow children of British mothers born before 1983 to register as a British citizen.


Written Question
Passports
Friday 16th November 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an Irish citizen born in Ireland with an English father is entitled to apply for a British passport.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

To apply for a British passport, a person must first hold a form of British nationality. Irish nationals born after 1949 can generally become British citizens if one of their parents held British citizenship at the time of their birth and was able to pass that status on. Mothers could only pass on British nationality from 1 January 1983.

Where they do not hold British nationality, Irish nationals with a British citizen parent are able to apply for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen provided they meet the statutory requirements.


Written Question
Passports
Friday 16th November 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an Irish citizen born in Ireland with an English mother is entitled to apply for a British passport.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

To apply for a British passport, a person must first hold a form of British nationality. Irish nationals born after 1949 can generally become British citizens if one of their parents held British citizenship at the time of their birth and was able to pass that status on. Mothers could only pass on British nationality from 1 January 1983.

Where they do not hold British nationality, Irish nationals with a British citizen parent are able to apply for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen provided they meet the statutory requirements.


Written Question
Passports
Monday 23rd April 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 5 April (HL6634), how they calculated their announced savings to the taxpayer by changing the supplier of UK passports; and what that figure represents as the unit cost per passport.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

As part of the procurement process, all bidders were evaluated against their individual pricing proposal. We are able to confirm that the cost of the new contract will be considerably lower than the current contract and underlines our commitment to deliver value for money to our passport customers and the tax payer.

We are unable to break this down to the unit cost per passport as the volume of passports over the lifespan of the new contract is variable and subject to fluctuations.


Written Question
Passports: Fees and Charges
Friday 6th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what income was obtained from passport fees in each of the last three years.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

Her Majesty’s Passport Office publishes information on its income within the Home Office annual report and accounts. A copy of the relevant section of the report and accounts for each of the past three financial years is attached together with the tables fro 2016-17 and 2015-16 below.

Figures for the current financial year will be published within the Home Office annual report and accounts for 2017-18, which will be published before Parliamentary summer recess.The information can also be found in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at the following links:

Financial year 2016/17, page 90 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017

Immigration Health Surcharge income has not been included in the table below as the service is provided by the Department of Health.

This analysis of income satisfies the Fees and Charges requirements of HM Treasury rather than IFRS 8 Operating Segments. Categories of income and costs below £10 million have been excluded from this analysis.

2016-17

Segment

Note

Income

Full Cost

Surplus /(deficit)

Fee recovery actual

Fee recovery target

£000

£000

£000

%

%

Crime and Policing Group College of Policing - People Development

1

15,235

28,681

(13,446)

53

-

Crime and Policing Group SIA - Licensing and ACS Income

2

24,955

22,921

2,034

109

100

Crime and Policing Group DBS Disclosures and Update Service

3

154,282

140,280

14,002

110

100

UK Visas & Immigration International Group - Visas

4

705,376

364,158

341,218

194

192

UK Visas & Immigration Immigration Group - In country

5

476,999

279,322

197,677

171

192

HM Passport Office -Passports

6

424,078

323,897

100,181

131

100

HM Passport Office Certificate Services

7

16,581

21,900

(5,319)

76

-

Enablers Information Services

8

148,318

413,269

(264,951)

36

-

1,965,824

1,594,428

371,396

Financial year 2015/16, page 109 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016

Immigration Health Surcharge income has not been included in the table below as the service is provided by the Department of Health. Some income streams are charged below the cost of delivery where the Department has to maintain its international competitiveness. To compensate for this, some fees are set above the cost of delivery. In particular, the income for certain in-country applications is set at a level that allows for a contribution towards immigration related activities, in addition to covering the cost of processing applications. The overall aim is to ensure that income contributes to the end-to-end costs of the immigration system.

2015-16

Segment

Note

Income

Full Cost

Surplus /(deficit)

Fee recovery actual

Fee recovery target

£000

£000

£000

%

%

Crime and Policing Group College of Policing - People Development

1

14,581

53,357

(-38,776)

27

-

Crime and Policing Group SIA - Licensing and ACS Income

2

29,567

25,536

4,031

116

100

Crime and Policing Group DBS Disclosures and Update Service

3

146,646

126,937

19,709

116

100

UK Visas & Immigration International Group - Visas

4

637,112

379,810

257,302

168

169

UK Visas & Immigration Immigration Group - In country

5

449,633

271,290

178,343

166

201

HM Passport Office -Passports

6

476,548

411,971

64,577

116

100

HM Passport Office Certificate Services

7

14,451

12,705

1,746

114

100

Enablers Information Services

8

145,665

366,660

(-220,995)

40

1

1,914,203

1,648,266

265,937

Financial year 2014/15, page 111

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441282/HO-AR15_web.pdf

Restated 2014-15

Segment

Note

Income

Full Cost

Surplus /(deficit)

Fee recovery actual

Fee recovery target

£000

£000

£000

%

%

Crime and Policing Group College of Policing - People Development

1

12,391

25,918

(13,527)

48

-

Crime and Policing Group SIA - Licensing and ACS Income

2

30,218

27,502

2,.716

110

100

Crime and Policing Group DBS Disclosures and Update Service

3

144,696

137,826

6,870

105

100

UK Visas & Immigration International Group - Visas

4

585,500

393,216

192,284

149

148

UK Visas & Immigration Immigration Group - In country

5

429,300

198,936

230,364

216

239

HM Passport Office -Passports

6

478,819

422,285

56,534

113

100

HM Passport Office Certificate Services

7

14,482

12,748

1,734

114

100

Enablers Information Services

8

97,318

335,419

(238,101)

29

-

1,792,724

1,553,850

238,874


Written Question
Passports
Thursday 5th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the financial impact analysis conducted in respect of the pending decision on the printing of British passports.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

The financial information submitted by bidders for the new passport contract tender is commercially sensitive to the bidders and the Home Office. All bids were assessed against a rigorous and robust due diligence process, however, the Home Office have no plans to publish any financial analysis in relation to the bids.


Written Question
Passports
Thursday 5th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the breakdown of costs incurred in printing, distributing, and administering UK passports.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

The current cost of printing and delivering a UK passport is considered commercially sensitive to both the suppliers and the Home Office.

However, the costs incurred by Her Majesty’s Passport Office are included within the Home Office’s published Annual Report and Accounts. The latest Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, can be found at the following link and see also attached for your reference. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017


Written Question
Passports
Thursday 5th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Lord Speaker - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the cost per unit of printing a UK passport.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)

The current cost of printing a UK passport is considered commercially sensitive to both the incumbent supplier and the Home Office. Any spend that the Home Office has with suppliers that is over £25,000 is published on the GOV.UK website in accordance with the Governments transparency agenda. The details of which are published at the following link: “

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-spending-over-25000-2017