HM Passport Office Debate

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Department: Home Office

HM Passport Office

Robert Halfon Excerpts
Thursday 12th June 2014

(10 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Baroness May of Maidenhead Portrait Mrs May
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I accept that the service the right hon. Lady and her constituent received is not good enough. If she makes the details available, we will ensure that HMPO chases up that particular case. As I said earlier, more staff are being put on the general inquiries hotline to try to ensure that people do not receive the same response as she and her constituent received when they tried to get information—that was not good enough.

Robert Halfon Portrait Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
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Does my right hon. Friend not agree that what hard-working constituents in Harlow are really concerned about is the fact that this Government cut the cost of passports for families saving for their holidays, whereas the previous Government used them as a stealth tax?

Baroness May of Maidenhead Portrait Mrs May
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I am grateful to my hon. Friend for reminding us of that. In all the debates on the Passport Office, people have lost sight of the fact that the Government were able to cut the cost of passports. That will have been welcomed by hard-working people in Harlow and across the country.