To ask Her Majesty's Government, out of the number of checks undertaken as part of the passport application assessment process in 2010-11, (1) how many countersignatories were contacted to confirm their identity, (2) how many countersignatories were found to be fraudulent, and (3) how many applicants were asked to resubmit a passport application due to their choice of countersignatory.

A number of checks are undertaken when considering applications for a UK passport. For counter fraud purposes, it would not be appropriate to disclose information relating to (1) the volume of contact with countersignatories or (2) the level of countersignatory engagement in fraudulent activity. In response to point (3) above, information is not held centrally on the outcome of passport applications by choice of countersignatory.