The Passport Office has been urged to learn lessons from the backlog chaos when hundreds of thousands had their applications delayed following the relaxation of coronavirus travel restrictions
A report by the National Audit Office, the Government's spending watchdog, warned HM Passport Office to "prepare for similar levels of demand" in 2023 to the increased applications seen in 2022, when 360,000 people waited longer than 10 weeks to receive their passports after applying.
Despite planning ahead, problems with recruitment and “limitations in its systems”, as well as unsuccessful efforts to deal with the level of demand all “contributed to longer than expected waits”, according to findings published on Friday.
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The Passport Office has a base in Durham city centre, along with London, Liverpool, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Leeds, Newport, Glasgow and Belfast.
Between January to September, more than seven million people applied and the Passport Office processed 6.9 million applications, an increase of 21% compared with the same period in 2019.
In May alone, more than 1.2 million applications were received, 38% more than the highest month in any of the previous five years. In the busiest week, 340,000 applications were submitted.
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.”
The National Audit Office urged the Home Office and Passport Office to learn lessons from this year's experience, as up to 10 million are likely to apply for passports in 2023.
The department was already working to improve contact with customers and better deal with demand in future, the NAO added.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The impact of Covid-19 on passport services is not unique to the UK, with passport-issuing authorities across the world having reported challenges for their service.
“We recognise that a small percentage of British passport customers did not receive the service that they should rightfully expect earlier this year. However, we have worked hard to rectify this, and have processed a record number of applications for a British passport in 2022, with over 95% being completed within 10 weeks.”
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