British holidaymakers could see a major jump in the cost of renewing their passports after concerns were raised about the spiralling costs behind the system.
The independent National Audit Office (NAO) suggested the current £94.50 cost of a travel document may increase because the Passport Office is losing so much money.
The department, which has been credited with reversing a huge backlog of delays in issuing passports, has racked up a deficit of almost a billion pounds over the past five years – including £223million last year alone.
The NAO argued that without increasing the one-off payment made every ten years, taxpayers more generally would have to cover the shortfall.
It did not give a figure for the rise but the Daily Telegraph suggested it would have to rise £32 to £126.50 to recoup the lost money.
A Home Office spokesman said there were no ‘immediate plans’ to increase fees and any changes would almost certainly not come into effect this year.
But it would be an additional financial burden for Britons at a time when the cost of living remains high.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: ‘Government bodies provide important services for the public and businesses, including issuing passports and driving licences, and filing company information.
‘But many are not consistently recovering their costs – posing risks to the financial resilience of these services and fairness between users.
‘HM Treasury should strengthen how it oversees cost-recovery processes and provide more comprehensive guidance to charging bodies.’
The cost of renewing passports has already risen significantly in recent years.
The department drastically hiked prices for adult passports in February 2023 – from £75.50 to £82.50.
Fees then rose again by 7 per cent last year – before an inflation-busting increase of 6.7 per cent in April to the current level for digital renewals.
Renewing an adult passport using a paper form already costs £107, while fast-track services see passports delivered in a week for £178 or a day for £222.
The Home Office previously said the new fees were necessary to ensure the cost of passport operations is met without relying on taxpayer funding.
It added that fees help cover passport processing, consular services for lost or stolen passports, and border operations.
Nearly 7million new passports were issued last year. Adult passports are valid for ten years, while passports for children are valid for just five.
The call for higher passport renewal fees came in a wider report by the NAO into government services.
A total £340million shortfall was found across all the services looked at – including UK Visas and Immigration, the Court and Tribunals Service and the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency.
The NAO’s report concluded: ‘Many government departments rely on charging fees to recover the costs of providing services to people and businesses.
‘But none of the services we looked at recovered costs consistently, and the charges for the services may not accurately reflect the costs.
‘The government is missing opportunities to deliver efficiencies and share good practice.
‘This poses risks to the financial resilience of public services, the costs of which are likely to be borne by future fee payers.’
