The Passport Office is among the Government departments name-checked by Boris Johnson as he indicated he wants to clamp down on civil servants working from home.
But HM Passport Office (HMPO) has said working from home has "no impact" on its ability to process applications. The 10-week waiting time, it has said, is not due to a "backlog" caused by changes made during the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.
The statement was issued in April in response to press reports, but this week Boris Johnson echoed attacks made by parts of the media. Mr Johnson pledged he will not tolerate what he called a "post-Covid manana culture" using "whatever steps are necessary."
READ MORE: Accountants appointed to investigate Liverpool Council's £16 million energy contract 'disaster'
He said: “We can’t have expensive delays in delivering passports and driving licences that see families stranded and unable to go on holiday, HGV drivers unable to transport goods around this country in the way that is so integral to the economy, we need and we’re going to fix it.”
The Passport Office denies there are "delays", saying the now standard 10-week waiting time was implemented in April 2021 due to high demand for passports in anticipation of relaxed Covid-19 restrictions. Demand also increased because people put off renewing during the initial 2020 lockdowns, the statement says.
HM Passports says it processed a record of more than one million passports in March. Working from home does not limit productivity, it says, and 500 staff have been hired since April 2021.
"Our dedicated staff are working tirelessly to deal with this unprecedented demand. Working from home has no impact on HMPO’s capacity to process passport applications," the statement adds.
In the Commons, Mr Johnson appeared to misspeak as he said the Government “will not tackle the post-Covid manana culture”, before adding: “We will take whatever steps are necessary to deliver for the British people, because the British people are not prepared to wait and we share their impatience.”
In a copy of the speech later issued by Downing Street, it stated Mr Johnson intended to say: “This Government will not tolerate a post-Covid manana culture.”
