Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the accuracy of the forecast of an increase of 350,000 additional applications in 2014 in the Identity and Passport Service Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13.

The 2012-13 IPS Annual Report and Accounts refers to the predicted demand for
overseas passport applications following the transfer of services from overseas
to the UK. The Annual Report indicates a demand for overseas passport
applications of approximatley 350,000 additional customers annually. As the
Chief Executive of Her Majesty's Passport Office told the Home Affairs Select
Committee on 17 June, the overall intake of overseas applications for 2014 is expected to be
in the order of 390, 000 to 400, 000.