James Daly, in his role on the Home Affairs Select Committee, has questioned the head of Her Majesty’s Passport Office on the current backlog. People from across Bury are facing waits of over 10 weeks, missing planned holidays, poor communication from staff and lost documents.
A rise in demand for passport applications following the relaxation of Covid travel restrictions saw waiting times for processing increase from 3 weeks to 10 weeks. Delays in processing have been further compounded by issues with the courier service, with some applicants claiming they have had to wait weeks for delivery after their application had been approved. There has also been widespread dissatisfaction with the service provided by the Passport Adviceline, with waits of several hours to speak to an operator.
The session examined the causes of delays in processing passport applications and what progress has been made in reducing the backlog. It also examined the impact on travellers who have experienced delays and uncertainty in obtaining a passport.
Mr Daly asked:
“Where we are today with these issues, are you telling us that it is just circumstance that has created this problem? Or is it management failures within the passport office that have put us in to this situation? I appreciate there are steps going to be taken to address these problems, but where does the fault lie?
Thomas Greig from HMPO said:
“We are in really unprecedented circumstance… are there things that I would do differently? Are there decisions that I would make a different way? Again absolutely but I think by and large we have managed the circumstance we’ve been in”
Later on in the session Mr Daly said:
“What evidence is there that you’re up to the job? That you can do it? That the structures and management that you have in place are going to deliver the change that is needed?”
Thomas Greig from HMPO said:
“We are resolving those issues… our caseload is coming down by 60,000 cases a week. We are putting measures in place to make sure people who need their passports can get them. We are working with our suppliers to improve their capacity.”
If you need help with your passport application and you are a Bury North resident, you can contact James using the below form:
