Holidays are being ruined
Passportchaosleavesfamilies stressedoutandoutofpocket
Scores of people across Lanarkshire are seeing their holidays ruined due to a backlog of passport applications.
The Home Office is currently swamped with requests from people attempting to renew their passports, after two years of limited travel due to Covid-19.
This has led to warnings that it will be at least 10 weeks before many are processed, which has already resulted in a significant number of Lanarkshire residents facing a race against time to get away abroad.
The Reformer has spoken with several people who have seen their plans scuppered as a result.
Pensioner Jane Shreenan, who lives in Cambuslang, told us she couldn’t make her holiday in Benidorm with friends because her passport has been showing as processing since early April – at an office in Liverpool.
She fumed: “It’s a disgrace how this has been handled because they knew there would be more demand for renewals after the past two years.
“I sent mine off in March, and since April 5 it has been listed as ‘processing’ at Liverpool. My friends have been able to get away, but I haven’t. One of my friends on the trip lives down south so this would have been the first time I had seen her in two years.
“What is really annoying is that if you pay extra you can get it fast-tracked. It’s unfair – I’ve spent so much on phone bills just trying to speak to someone”
A Rutherglen mum, who asked not to be named, told us she was facing an anxious wait for her daughter’s passport to arrive before a planned trip to Turkey next month.
She said: “I’m losing sleep over this. I applied at the start of March and it’s been sitting in processing since March 24.
“It’s the randomness that is the worst of it. I have friends who applied after me and have received but I’m still waiting.
“I’ve been saving a lot for this holiday and I’m worried sick I’ll lose it all if the passport doesn’t arrive in time. You phone them up and it’s impossible to speak to someone. “
Another Rutherglen local told us their family had been caught up in the mess and were likely to miss a holiday in America due to one of their passports not arriving – even though the rest of the family have received theirs.
The estimated backlog for passports is around 500,000, and even those applying for fast track appointments have been told it could take up to three weeks.
Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey hit out at the current situation and called for a drastic improvement. She said: “Many of my constituents are faced with unnecessary stress and anxiety due to the severe delays at the Passport Office and the Tory Government’s inaction to resolve these issues across the UK.
“Facing a service standard of 10 weeks is completely unacceptable and more must be done to bring down waiting times.
“People are missing out on funerals, weddings and holidays whilst losing out on lots of money.
“The UK Government and the Home Office must get a grip of the passport chaos by increasing delivery capacity, communicating better with applicants, and process passports in a timely manner.”
The Home Office stressed they are adding extra staff to try and cope with the demand.
A HM Passport Office spokesperson said: “Since April 2021, we have been advising people to allow up to ten weeks when applying for their British passport as more than five million people delayed applying due to the pandemic.
“We urge people who need a new passport to apply for one as soon as possible, with the vast majority of all passports applications being dealt with well within 10 weeks.
“To deal with this demand, we have increased staff numbers by 500 since April 2021. This has helped us handle more applications than ever before, with more than one million passport applications processed in March 2022. The passport advice line is being delivered by Teleperformance which is in the process of recruiting additional staff to better service customer queries.”