(1)The Secretary of State may charge a fee in respect of the provision of passport validation services to persons on request.
(2)“Passport validation services” are services in connection with confirming the validity of United Kingdom passports or the accuracy of the information contained in them which are provided for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime.
(3)In this section “United Kingdom passport” has the same meaning as in the Immigration Act 1971 (see section 33 of that Act).
(4)A fee payable under this section may be recovered as a debt due to the Secretary of State.
(5)Fees paid to the Secretary of State under this section must be—
(a)paid into the Consolidated Fund, or
(b)applied in such other way as the Secretary of State may by regulations specify.
(6)Regulations under subsection (5) may be made only with the consent of the Treasury.
(7)This section is without prejudice to—
(a)section 1 of the Consular Fees Act 1980 (fees for consular acts etc),
(b)section 102 of the Finance (No 2) Act 1987 (government fees and charges), or
(c)any other power to charge a fee.
Commencement Information
I1S. 88 in force at 12.7.2016 by S.I. 2016/603, reg. 3(q)