New British passport applications are said to be taking at least double the advertised time to process.
Previously, we reported on delays experienced by applications by expats, but delay seems to pertain to all requests although Applications from Britons living overseas are understood to be among the most seriously affected by the delays.
Three weeks turnaround time on applications is the advice given on the Government’s passport website, but applicants are claiming the time taken in much longer.
David Hanson, the shadow immigration minister, said MPs were being inundated with complaints from constituents, who were experiencing unacceptable delays.
He said: “In 22 years as an MP I’ve never had anything like the number of desperate individuals contacting my office and it seems many MPs are experiencing the same.”
Staff from other government departments are said to have been asked to help. But unions claim officials only acted when the backlog reached 350,000, by which time it too late to make a significant impact.
The Public and Commercial Services Union has approached the Passport Office seeking urgent negotiations regarding pay and conditions for workers. It also said: “Despite making profits of £70 million in the last financial year there appears to be a lack of forward thinking and measures put in place to sufficiently deal with applications. We do not accept that the current problems can be solely down to unusual demand.”
The Passport Office chief executive said it was having an “exceptional early summer demand” but it has “processed more than 97% of straightforward passport renewal and child applications within the three week target turnaround time.”
“We have issued almost three million passports for UK customers in 2014, including over one million issued in the eight weeks since the start of April.”
Prime Minister Cameron has pledged to keep performance standards under very close review. “If there are measures that can be taken to improve, then of course we will look at it”, said his official spokesperson.
In 1998, faults with a new computer system left the passport office unable to issue new documents. The National Audit Office found the agency had spent £16,000 on umbrellas for people forced to queue in the rain.
