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The UK Passport Office “delivered an unacceptable level of service” last year, a cross-party parliamentary report concluded on Thursday, as the service braced for a fresh wave of strikes over pay and working conditions.
Between January and September 2022, about 360,000 customers were forced to wait more than 10 weeks for their documents, resulting in people missing holidays, work and family events, according to the House of Commons’ public accounts committee.
The passport service is under mounting pressure as it struggles to handle staff walkouts with customer demand at a similar level to last year.
On Monday, more than 1,000 passport workers who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union began five weeks of industrial action, lasting until May 6.
The walkouts will affect all eight of the UK’s passport processing centres, in a move that is likely to trigger further delays in processing ahead of the summer travel period.
The report found that despite the Passport Office planning for an uptick in renewal applications during 2022, its digital system was “unable to handle the surge in demand” following Covid pandemic restrictions being lifted.
This led to more than 130,000 applications being processed through a slower, paper-based system.
The MPs also criticised the Home Office for displaying a “worrying lack of curiosity” over the effect of delays on its customers, adding that the planned “resolution hub” designed to resolve complaints, was unlikely to be operational this year.
SNP MP Peter Grant, who led the inquiry with Labour MP Nick Smith, said the service received by the public in spring and summer 2022 was “simply unacceptable”. Despite the best efforts of staff, they were “fighting a losing battle against antiquated processes and poor planning”, Grant added.
Smith said that last year passport delays were “the number one casework issue” in his constituency office, adding: “I’m concerned that a failure to upgrade their clunky system may result in similar scenes this year.”
The report recommended the Home Office outline the lessons learned from last year’s delays and how these had informed preparation for 2023, when applications are expected to surge again.
In future, the department should “place a greater emphasis” on customer service, with improved data gathering on passport applications, the MPs said.
The inquiry, which noted that the “performance of external contractors was deteriorating as early as March 2022” urged the department to take steps to improve its partnerships.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: “Blame for the backlogs and delays should be directed at HMPO management, not the hardworking staff who are suffering from chronically low pay and whose morale is at an all-time low.”
The Home Office said that 2022 had been “a record-breaking year, with HM Passport Office issuing 8.4mn passports”.
“We worked hard to meet this unprecedented demand and make improvements, hiring hundreds more staff to ensure customers could get their passports in time for travel.”
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