Passport Applications

Roberta Blackman-Woods Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

The hon. Gentleman would not expect me to be able to comment on an individual case when I do not know the details. I assume that he has been in touch with the MPs helpline, but obviously I will try to ensure that appropriate follow-up action is taken in relation to cases that are raised in the Chamber this afternoon.

As I have said, I entirely understand the frustration and anxiety of people who are worried about whether they will receive their passports before they are due to travel. That is why, last week, I announced a package of additional measures to help the Passport Office to meet demand and deliver passports on time, while still maintaining the security of the document.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

Does the Home Secretary accept that there is something wrong with the support system for British citizens who are living overseas when they are having to phone my constituency office to ask me to intervene on their behalf?

[Mrs May]

There are a number of issues that I shall address later in my speech, but let me say this to the hon. Lady. We want a passport system that ensures that people can apply for their passports and receive them within a reasonable time. The majority of those whose applications are straightforward are receiving their passports within the time scale that has been set, but when we deal with passport applications, it is important for us to carry out the necessary checks. Sometimes information will not have been submitted, or someone will not have filled in the form correctly, and it will be necessary to contact the person again. That means that delivering the passport will take longer.

--- Later in debate ---

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

I echo the concerns raised by many hon. and right hon. Members about the problems that delays in issuing passports are causing constituents. The situation is distressing for many of them. I have witnessed that with regard to not only my own constituents, but the many people from across the country who have had to travel to Durham to sort out issues with the Passport Office and have ended up in my constituency office. Overseas citizens have also made representations to my office. I say to the hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) that if he thinks that Opposition Members are in some way concocting the problem, he should try being a member of staff at my constituency office.

I want to focus on the impact the debacle is having on Passport Office staff. It has an office in my constituency and I know how hard the staff have been working in recent weeks and months to try to alleviate the crisis. We need to thank them, because if so many of them had not gone the extra mile, the situation would be worse than the one we are facing today.

Let us be clear: responsibility for this dreadful situation rests with the Home Secretary—I am glad she is back in her place—and her Government. The Government have inadequately resourced the Passport Office, despite the fact that it is paid for by users of the service. We heard from my right hon. Friend the shadow Home Secretary, who gave an excellent speech, that the Home Secretary will blame anyone but her Government for this shambles. I want the Home Secretary to take responsibility for this issue and answer some of my questions so that I can better understand why my constituents who need to use or work in the Passport Office, are currently experiencing such a stressful situation.

When and why was the decision taken to transfer responsibility for issuing passports to citizens living overseas to the UK, without any proper assessment of the additional strain that that would put on the system here? I have heard that in Durham alone that means processing a few hundred thousand extra passports. If those on the Government Front Bench dispute those figures, they need to give me the accurate figures as I have not been able to obtain them from the Department. When did the Home Office realise that there was a problem in trying to process applications from citizens living overseas, and when did it move experienced staff from other areas to that section, thereby growing the backlog in other areas?

What is the situation regarding the reduction in staff numbers? The Public and Commercial Services Union has stated that 600 fewer staff are now working in the Passport Office than in 2010, and today we heard that that was because of the withdrawal of identity cards. I understand that most identity card work was carried out in the Durham office, and in 2010 the Home Office told me that that meant a reduction of 68 staff, not 600. We need clarity on that.

Why has there been a delay in paying overtime to staff? Those staff earn between £7 and £9 per hour for processing work and checking passport applications. Apparently, they have to process about 17 passports every hour, yet only in June were they given double time for working additional hours—a very laggardly response from the Government. Is the Home Secretary satisfied that overall staffing levels and levels of remuneration are correct, given the sensitive nature of the job? Staff are now dealing with very frustrated and often distressed and angry people. What training have they been given to enable them to work in that situation? Sometimes people manning the call centre have more than 100 calls waiting. I hope the Home Secretary will tell the House what she will do to compensate staff who are dealing with that dreadful situation. They have not done anything to create this situation, but they are doing their utmost to help sort it out.