Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of supporting documents the Passport Office received by mail in 2022; how many and what proportion of those documents were (a) lost and (b) damaged; and what the average length of time was for the reimbursement of lost and damaged documents.

In 2022, His Majesty’s Passport Office has received over 7 million items by post in 2022. 74 documents, or approximately 0.001% of the items received, have been reported as lost and not recovered. 1,114 documents, or approximately 0.016% of the items received, have been reported as damaged on route to, or within, an HM Passport Office site.

The length of time for reimbursement due to loss and damage of documents is not held in a reportable format.