Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to confiscate the passports of suspects accused of serious crimes to prevent them fleeing the United Kingdom.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department issues passports in accordance with the Royal Prerogative. The circumstances in which passports can be issued, refused and withdraw were set out in a Written Ministerial Statement published in 2013.

Under this Written Ministerial Statement, the Home Secretary may consider the refusal or withdrawal of a passport for those who:

• have been issued with an arrest warrant in the United Kingdom
• are wanted by United Kingdom police on suspicion of a serious crime
• are the subject of a court order, made by a court in the United Kingdom, or any other order made pursuant to a statutory power, which imposes travel restrictions or restrictions on the possession of a valid United Kingdom passport; or
• are subject to bail conditions imposed by a police officer or a court in the United Kingdom, which include travel restrictions or restrictions on the possession of a valid United Kingdom passport.

The Government keeps its powers in this are under review.