Many UK passport offices to close, 250 jobs to go

The passport office in Newport, south Wales, and most of passport interview offices across Britain, are to close with a loss of more than 250 jobs, the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said on Friday. The offices, where first-time passport applicants go for interviews to verify their identity, were set up to stop fraud. The PCS warned that their closure would make it easier to produce fake passports, putting national security at risk.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition plans to slash public spending as it tackles a huge budget deficit and government departments have been asked to find savings of around 25%. The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is an agency of the Home Office.
"The Identity and Passport Service is playing fast and loose with the security of the British passport by putting cuts before the needs of the public," said Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary.
"These closures will lead to mass job losses at a time of rising unemployment, and we will do everything we can to reverse this outrageous decision," he added.
Closing the Newport office will mean the loss of 250 jobs, while shutting 34 interview offices would put many more jobs at risk, the union said.
A spokesman for the Home Office confirmed a consultation was being held on the closure of the Newport office but declined to comment on whether there were plans to close other interview offices. IPS chief executive Sarah Rapson said the changes would improve the efficiency of the passport application process network and insisted it would still deliver a "secure, internationally respected passport".
"It is never pleasant to implement changes which means jobs are lost, but IPS is taking these steps to ensure it makes the best possible use of taxpayers' money," Rapson said.