Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the decision to award the contract for the new British passports to Gemalto, what estimate they have made of (1) the number of UK jobs that will be lost, (2) the number of UK jobs that will be created, (3) the cost of redundancy payments, and (4) the net impact on tax revenue.

The next contract for the design, manufacture, and personalisation of UK passports has yet to be awarded. However, this contract will continue to demand British jobs by requiring the supplier to personalise the documents in the UK.

It is for all potential suppliers to determine how to best deploy their resources to meet their business need. The incumbent supplier has publicly stated that it will bid for other work to help protect jobs after the current passport contract ends.