Immigration minister, Damian Green has announced that passport fees will be reduced by six per cent, bbc.co.uk reports.
After the news that Air Passenger Duty will continue to rise, adding a substantial amount to the average cost of a holiday, there may be some small consolation in Mr Green's words. He confirmed that the price of an adult passport will decrease from £77.50 to £72.50 and a child's from £49 to £46.
That means, for example, a family of four planning to visit Father Christmas in Lapland will save £16.
The reductions are the proud result of several successful 'efficiency measures', according to the Home Office, which saved £40 million last year. These included redundancies and the closure of 22 passport interview offices, sadly. Nevertheless, figures show that these measures have expedited new passport application times, with almost all of the 5.4 passports made last year within two weeks.
"The Identity and Passport Service has worked hard to provide value for money in the vital service it provides," said Mr Green via breakingtravelnews.com, "and it is right that these savings are passed on to customers and fee-payers.
"Not only has IPS made the efficiency savings to make this possible, but it has done so whilst continuing to provide a very high standards of service to customers."
