It is vital that we fight to retain passport service

From Senator Lyndon Farnham, Assistant Minister, Home Affairs.

IN relation to the rising concern regarding the issuance of Jersey passports, I would like to clarify a number of points in relation to this subject.

In late 2010 the United Kingdom commenced the introduction of a new style of British passport named the New Generation Passport (NGP). This passport is capable of storing a new biometric form of identity – the holder’s fingerprints, although it is not planned to collect fingerprints for the foreseeable future.

It is anticipated that the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) will introduce the New Generation Passport in 2013.

A number of meetings have been held between the Crown Dependencies and the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), a UK government agency affiliated to the Home Office, culminating in four options being offered to Jersey:

n Local personalisation: The Jersey passport office continues to issue Island variant passports using a new system procured from the IPS – This is my preferred option.

n Central personalisation: The Jersey passport office examines and processes passport applications and forwards the information to the IPS who would print the Island variant passport in the UK and deliver it directly to the applicants home address.

n Check, examine, approve and send: The Jersey passport office collects and forwards the data to the IPS, and standard British passports are produced in the UK and delivered directly to the applicants’ home address.

n Passport office in Jersey closed: British Citizen Island residents have to apply for passports in the UK.

In February 2012 representatives from the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service (JCIS) attended a meeting at the IPS in London where they were informed that, having fully considered all of the issues, the IPS were now of the view that of the aforementioned options, central personalisation was the only option that they were prepared to consider.

The IPS emphasised that this was very much a printing issue and that there was no question of the UK becoming involved in the decision-making process regarding whether or not a British (local variant) passport is issued, to a Jersey resident. That decision would continue to be taken in Jersey under authority delegated to the Lieutenant Governor by the Crown.

It is worth noting that, under the central personalisation scheme, costs could possibly be reduced owing to economies of scale. It is also right to mention that the JCIS have always enjoyed a good working relationship with the IPS.

The issuance, including the printing, of passports is an important function of any national government. If the printing of Jersey passports was transferred to the UK it could be argued that Jersey’s interests would not be best served due to the fact that service levels could be compromised by matters outside of our control.

For example, we would have no way of preventing technical difficulties, inefficiency, strike action, or prejudice as displayed in the recent decision in relation to the removal of low value consignment relief (LVCR) from the Channel Islands. In addition, although emergency travel documents could be made available locally, we would lose the ability to issue passports on the same day when circumstances demanded.

I therefore believe it is imperative that we fight to retain this valuable service for the benefit of our people and to uphold our unique status as a small Island nation.