Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Home Secretary Teresa May: 'We will continue to look at this issue"
The Passport Office has denied that it is failing to cope with applications, despite claims of severe delays.
Chief executive Paul Pugh said more than 99% of "straightforward applications" were being processed within four weeks.
The Home Office says it currently has about 465,000 applications, made up of renewals and first-time passports.
It denies union claims that job cuts over the past five years are to blame for the "massive backlog".
Home Office minister James Brokenshire told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that 150,000 passports were being sent out every week so there would inevitably be several hundred thousand in the system.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Keith Vaz, Home Affairs Select Committee: 'Public deserve to know facts'
He said passport applications were at a 12-year high and there had been redeployment of staff to deal with this.
But Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said this was not good enough.
"The Passport Office has known about this since March this year - it's now June," he told the BBC.
"If you know there's a surge on the way, you make contingency plans."
'Exceptional demand'Home Secretary Theresa May has denied Labour claims that she has "taken her eye off the ball" on the issue, amid a big increase in complaints from people who have not received their passports in time.
Mrs May said: "I recognise people's concerns about getting their passports. It is about people and families who are planning holidays and they want to ensure they get their passports."
She said demand for passports was the highest it had been for 12 years and "since January" the Passport Office had been bringing more staff in and staying open longer to cope with demand.
"We will continue to look at this issue and the Passport Office will put more staff in place and more resources in place to ensure that they can deal with these applications," she added.
Meanwhile, Mr Pugh has been asked to appear next week before the select committee and Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson has called on him to make a "graceful exit".
The Passport Office boss said there had been "exceptional" summer demand but that extra staff had been brought in to handle applications.
"We are operating seven days a week and our couriers are delivering passports within 24 hours of being produced," he said.
"We have issued almost three million passports for UK customers in 2014, including over one million issued in the eight weeks since the start of April.
"During this busy period we have processed more than 97% of straightforward passport renewal and child applications within the three-week target turnaround time."
The Public and Commercial Services Union has said it does not know how many applications have been delayed.
It has claimed the loss of a tenth of the agency's workforce in the past five years and the closure of local passport offices have contributed to "major problems".
Mike Jones, of the PCS union, told Today: "Thousands of people complain that it has taken more than two months for them to get passports, That clearly is a backlog".
Applying for a passport
Guidance on the Passport Office's website says it should take three weeks for passports to be renewed, although the process can take longer if more information is required or the form is not filled out correctly.
It states that people should not book holidays or make other travel plans until they have a valid passport, adding that those doing so do it "at their own risk".
Standard adult passports cost £72.50 to renew or £81.25 if you use the Post Office's Passport Check and Send service. Child passports cost £46 or £54.75 respectively.
Those needing a passport urgently can pay extra for a premium or fast-track service. A premium service, costing £128, means passports can be collected within four hours of being approved.
Under the fast-track service, costing £103, a passport is returned within a week of the application being approved.
For over-16s applying for their first adult passport, the Passport Service says people should allow for at least six weeks to receive it.
In the past, overseas applications were handled by embassy and consulate officials in seven regional processing centres around the world under the direction of the Foreign Office.
But between December 2012 and March this year, responsibility for the application, handling, printing and delivery of overseas passport applications was transferred to the Passport Office in the UK.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Passport Office boss denies backlog
Dengan url
http://cangkirtehhangat.blogspot.com/2014/06/passport-office-boss-denies-backlog.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Passport Office boss denies backlog
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Passport Office boss denies backlog
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar