Written question asked by Madeleine Moon (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 April 2012. It was answered by Damian Green (Conservative) on Monday, 30 April 2012 on behalf of the Home Office.

Passports

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure that any passport confiscated by door security staff in the nighttime economy does not enter the criminal passport market; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The UK passport is one of the most secure documents of its kind utilising a combination of physical and electronic security features. Since 2006 individuals have been biometrically linked to their passports through the photograph contained in an electronic chip embedded in the document. The chip cannot be altered without Border Control officers becoming aware that the passport has been tampered with. UK passports also have a range of physical security measures designed to prevent forgery and tampering. These measures are continuously assessed and attempted frauds and forgeries analysed to ensure that security is maintained and to identify opportunities for further strengthening of the passport and passport issuing process.The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has a database of passports reported lost and stolen and of passports which have been recovered by third parties and returned to the agency. All passports reported lost or stolen are automatically cancelled on IPS systems and their details added to the database. IPS provides data relating to lost and stolen passports to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and the UK Border Agency on a daily basis.All passports returned to IPS by third parties are automatically cancelled and destroyed.

Secondary information