Appendix 4
S.I. 2011/1691: memorandum from the Home Office
Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2011 (S.I. 2011/1691)
1. The Committee has requested
a memorandum on the following point:
In connection with new paragraph BA of part 2
of Schedule 1 to the Consular Fees Order 2011, explain what costs
are incurred for "arranging delivery of a passport"
in a case where the application for a passport is unsuccessful.
2. The fee for delivering
a passport overseas must cover two types of costs. It not only
covers the costs incurred when a package is despatched but also
the cost incurred to put in place and run the infrastructure to
support the initial collection of delivery fees and the delivery
of packages.
3. For example, delivering
a passport requires systems and business processes to be in place
to enable the collection of delivery fees, including offices where
customers may submit their applications and fees in person in
a number of countries where it is not possible to send an application
to one of the seven Regional Passport Processing Centres directly.
We need to have in place staff resources and suitable IT systems
which record the receipt of an application and its progress and
which can then either arrange or prevent delivery of a passport.
In addition, there are overheads incurred in managing our relationship
with our delivery supplier in order to ensure the entire service
is co-ordinated as well as ensuring that correct delivery processes
are maintained (e.g. ensuring we meet different customs regulations
for overseas deliveries to multiple territories).
4. In the proportionately
small number of cases where a passport is refused, the cost of
setting up exceptional processes for refunding the costs relating
to actual despatch of the passport would have created further
administrative burdens at a relatively high cost on each occasion
- likely to be in excess of the actual refund to be provided in
many cases.
Home Office
25 October 2011
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