CONCERNS OVER 4,000 PASSPORTS LOST IN THE POST
CONCERNS OVER 4,000 PASSPORTS LOST IN THE POST.
From THE EXPRESS, April 7th, 2001
By EXCLUSIVE BY ALISON LITTLE POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
NEARLY 4,000 passports go missing in the post every year, a minister revealed
yesterday. According to Passport Agency figures, 3,851 were reported lost last year out of
nearly 5.5 million sent out. Immigration Minister Barbara Roche told the Commons in a written reply:
“Officials in the Passport Agency have held discussions with the Royal Mail
about the security of passports in the post. “The Passport Agency is concerned about the number which are reported lost in
the post and is seeking to work more closely with the Royal Mail to combat
this problem.” In a separate answer, she also stressed that the agency regularly reviewed the
methods it used to send out passports and that the “vast majority” of those
issued by first class post arrived safely. “The agency has no plans to change its arrangements, but is working closely
with the Royal Mail to improve security,” she added. The assumption is that some passports fall into the hands of rogue postal
workers. There have been discussions about changing the look of the packaging
to make the contents less obvious. But the envelopes still appear potentially
valuable when sent by special delivery. Other items that tend to vanish en
route include credit cards and work is also going on to try to improve their
security. The Royal Mail is also looking into its internal security. The Daily Express disclosed in January that, according to the Consumer Council
for Postal Services, an estimated one million of the 80 million letters posted
each week never reached their destination. The Post Office, now renamed Consignia, disputed that figure. A spokesperson
for the Royal Mail said yesterday that passports did not go by special or
recorded delivery unless specified by the customer. “We would urge people if
they want passports back quickly to use special or recorded delivery because
then it can be tracked through the system and is guaranteed to arrive the next
working day,” said the spokesperson. On the issue of missing passports, she said: “It is not a significant problem
but we take any problems seriously. We are working very closely with the
Passport Agency to make sure there are not any losses. “We have our own security team who monitor all mail and identify if there are
any problems and target those areas. They do that routinely to prevent
losses.”
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