Scotland will soon be the only country in the UK without passport processing services if plans from the UK Identity and Passport service to axe 100 jobs in Glasgow and end processing of postal applications are allowed to go ahead.

The announcement of the job losses follows internal rumours that the office in Glasgow was being deliberately run down with claims postal applications from the South of Scotland were being diverted to offices in Durham and Peterborough.

After increasing the number of applications processed in Glasgow from 2003 – 2007 when there was a sudden fall of 100,000 applications at the same time it is alleged applications were diverted away from Scotland.
 

Glasgow SNP MSP Sandra White said: "There has been concern for some time that the passport office in Glasgow was being run down.   Postal passport applications from the South of Scotland, Lanarkshire and the Lothians have been finding their way to offices in Peterborough and Durham instead of coming to Glasgow as they had always done.

"This is not just about the loss of 100 jobs but about the removal of a vital service from Glasgow and from Scotland.  Scotland will be the only country in the UK not to have passport processing services.

"If there is a delay with a passport application people from Scotland will have to travel to England, Wales or Northern Ireland to sort it out.

"The number of passport applications being processed in Glasgow has increased every year from 2003 until 2007 when there was a sudden drop of 100,000 applications.  This drop must be explained.    It looks like the passport agency has been running this office down deliberately.

"The passport agency must explain why this has happened.  I will be asking my colleagues in Westminster to raise these concerns and seeking discussions with the passport agency and the unions as soon as possible.

"Scotland must keep passport services."

SNP Westminster Treasury spokesperson, Stewart Hosie MP, who raised questions on the passport processing services with UK Ministers, added: "This announcement has come as a body blow to staff at the Passport Office in Glasgow, and we must have guarantees that there will be a genuine consultation before any final decision on job losses is made.

"We must also have access to the information on which this decision has been based, and I will be seeking answers from the UK Ministers responsible for this decision.

Notes:

1. Ms White and other Glasgow SNP MSPs are to seek discussions with both the Trade Unions and the Identity and Passport service.
   
   
2. Question from Stewart Hosie showing the number of postal applications received in the Glasgow passport office. "Stewart Hosie (Dundee East, Scottish National Party) | Hansard source To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport requests were received by mail at the Glasgow Passport Office (a) in the latest year for which figures are available and (b) in each of the previous five years.
   
   Meg Hillier (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Identity), Home Office) | Hansard source The requested information is given in the table. Glasgow Postal applications received
       2003    567,369
       2004    568,186
       2005    591,048
       2006    652,619
       2007    554,784