Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding will be provided to HM Passport Office for the development of new technology for remote interview sites after the proposed closure of 15 HM Passport Office interview offices.

Her Majesty’s Passport office currently offers passport application interviews via secure link from 25 locations. From May 2016 there will be an additional five locations offering video interviews.

The cost of establishing video interview services at these additional five locations is estimated to be £15,000 per site. This cost will be met by our existing budget with no additional funding required.