The Government has failed to guarantee the passport backlog will be cleared by the summer holidays, amid calls to reinstate Post Office-issued 12-month travel documents. Home Office minister Kevin Foster was pressed by Labour MP Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) to answer if the backlog will be sorted by July 22, when schools in England and Wales break up for their summer holidays.
Hundreds of thousands of people have suffered delays with their passport applications, with the Government setting a 10-week target compared to three weeks in a normal year. The Government expects 9.5 million British passport applications to be dealt with in 2022, with Covid restrictions on travel resulting in just four million applications in 2020 and five million in 2021 by comparison.
Mr Smith highlighted the millions of overseas visits, including school holidays, during the third quarter of the year before asking in the Commons: “To help families get away, will the Passport Office backlog be cleared by July 22?”
Mr Foster replied: “Well, we’ve already made clear the actions we’re taking and, as I say, since April last year we’ve been advising people to allow up to 10 weeks for their application. Although 91% of people do get their passport back within six weeks of applying, (Mr Smith) will also be aware that in some instances – school trips – collective passports can be used subject to them being accepted by the country they’re travelling to.”
Conservative MP Antony Higginbotham (Burnley) also suggested a revival of the British Visitor’s Passport. He said: “In the last few weeks there’s not been a day gone by that me and my team haven’t helped a constituent with a passport issue.
"Whilst most of those have been resolved, it shouldn’t take the intervention of someone’s Member of Parliament to get their passport. So could I ask whether the Home Office would consider bringing back the old British Visitor’s Passport, which were issued by Post Offices for a 12-month period, to help reduce the backlog?”
Mr Foster replied: “There’s a lot of work being done to catch up on passports. I think it’s safe to say that going back to a system that was fundamentally paper-based would bring quite a range of security issues, and not least some issues at the border, which is why it was discontinued.”
Conservative former minister Paul Maynard raised problems with the delivery of passports. He said he and his caseworker are “very grateful” for the improvement the Home Office has made in dealing with the Passport Office backlog.
But Mr Maynard added: “Once the passports are handed over from the Home Office to the private delivery companies, can the Home Office do more to make sure they actually reach the intended household and not random neighbours or a random bush or indeed a random river where they seem to end up?”
Mr Foster replied: “It’s concerning to hear those examples because there’s clear standards and clear procedures in how passports are delivered. They can’t just, for example, be left in a communal area or things like that.”
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