Could passports backlog be over? Hope for holidaymakers as processing time is down to three weeks

• Processing delays last year led to a huge backlog in passport renewals in the UK 
• Suella Braverman said 97 per cent of applications are now done in three weeks

Holidaymakers’ hopes of a hassle-free summer break were boosted yesterday after ministers announced that nearly all passport applications are now being completed within three weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by processing delays last year when demand to renew passports surged following the Covid pandemic.

But Home Secretary Suella Braverman told MPs yesterday that 97 per cent of UK passport applications are now being completed within three weeks.

In a statement to the Commons, she said: ‘Despite very high demand so far this year, last week, approximately 99 per cent of all UK applications were completed within ten weeks. 

Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by processing delays last year when demand to renew passports surged following the Covid pandemic

‘Indeed, last week, approximately 97 per cent of all UK applications were completed within three weeks.’

Still, Mrs Braverman urged people to apply in good time – allowing ten weeks – rather than at the last minute to ‘avoid long delays’.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) in December found that 360,000 applicants waited more than 10 weeks for their passport between January and September last year.

The NAO said that while HM Passport Office (HMPO) ‘put in place plans to help manage the expected surge in demand, and the majority of customers received a good service, a significant number did not’.

‘HMPO is committed to learning lessons from its experience this year, so it can better manage future spikes in demand,’ it said.

Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: ‘HM Passport Office processed a record number of applications amid unprecedented demand.

‘But limitations in its systems, coupled with difficulties in keeping up with higher-than-average numbers of customers contributed to delays for hundreds of thousands of people, creating anxiety for those with travel plans and hampering people’s ability to prove their identity.

‘HMPO must now learn the lessons from this year and prepare for similar levels of demand that are expected in 2023.’

Source: Read Full Article