Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what security safeguards have been put in place since UK passport production was moved from De La Rue in the UK to Gemalto in France in 2016.

There are a range of safeguards in place to protect the security of the passport service throughout the change of supplier. This has included assuring the sites used by Thales (formerly Gemalto) to produce the UK passport against the UK Security Policy Framework. In addition, they have been independently certified to the international standard for the Management of Security Printing Processes, ISO 14298 and the international standard for Information Security Management, ISO27001.

All passports continue to be personalised with the passport holder’s personal details such as name and photograph, in the United Kingdom. This ensures no personal data leaves the UK.

The outgoing supplier has maintained the required standards of security throughout the transition, with agreed plans in place for the secure decommissioning and destruction of the assets from this service.