A Lanarkshire MP has warned locals could have their summer holiday plans scuppered because of Home Office delays in processing passport applications.
Marion Fellows has called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to address the “predictable but preventable” delays in passport processing.
A lifting of COVID restrictions at home and abroad going into the summer has led to a massive increase in passport applications, which Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) is struggling to deal with.
People hoping to travel abroad this Summer have been told they should apply to renew outdated passports as soon as possible, as the Passport Office faces huge backlogs.
Mrs Fellows, the MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, has been part of a cross-party effort urging the Home Office to take action.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “The expected waiting time was increased from three to four weeks, to 10 weeks this month - yet constituents of mine have told me that despite filing their forms within the 10 week timeframe, their passport either hasn’t arrived or came too late for their travel plans.
“This is simply not good enough, especially as we approach the summer where many families will be looking for a much-deserved break.
"The Home Office must do everything necessary to work through this backlog and get holidays back on the table.”
Mrs Fellows claimed "everyone but the Home Office saw this coming a mile off," which has resukted in "families forced to cancel holidays, rearrange weddings, miss funerals, and put off seeing loved ones even longer" because of a lack of preparation.
She added: "It was obvious that a lifting of COVID restrictions would lead to an increased interest in foreign travel, yet there seems to have been no effort made whatsoever to deal with a predictable - but wholly preventable - swell in passport applications.”
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