PASSPORT PANIC
Desperate families forced to queue at office after waiting months for documents
A PASSPORT applications black hole has left thousands of Scots in summer holiday limbo. Queues form outside the passport office in Glasgow every day as travellers try to find out why they are waiting for documents – months after applying. Union chiefs have blamed the backlog on staff cuts and an outdated computer system.
Shaun Campbell and Fiona Cox cancelled their dream wedding abroad because of the backlog.
The gutted groom said: “We thought we’d be getting married in the sun and had everything planned.”
THOUSANDS of Scots have had their summer holiday plans plunged into chaos over a “mountain” of unprocessed passport applications. The Home Office is understood to have put up to 4000 applications for the travel document from several months ago to the back of the queue – processing new applications first. But the move spells disaster for those who are still waiting on them to get abroad this summer. The Daily Record spoke to Scots stuck in a lengthy queue at the Passport Office in Glasgow yesterday – where angry applicants have been turning up to try to get their situation sorted. Union bosses are demanding staff cuts from an already beleaguered Passport Office workforce are reversed so “better-trained” staff can handle the backlog. They also want the removal of a clunky computer system effectively keeping cases in the system instead of sorting them out. The Public and Commercial Service (PCS) Union said the planned 91,000 civil service job cuts must be halted immediately. A spokesman said: “PCS members are working exceptionally hard with an outdated system in Glasgow. “The Government should stop the planned cuts to the civil service, buy up-to-date IT equipment and employ more better-trained and better-paid staff if it is serious about tackling the backlog.” The call came as desperate applicants queued in Glasgow yesterday to try and sort out the mess.
Frantic people, some in tears, told horror stories revealing the inept handling of the crisis by the Home Office.
Young mum Rachel Carter said: “This is an actual joke now. My daughter applied for her passport on April 23 and it hasn’t updated since. My son applied for his 10 days ago and it turned up today.
“He has no travel plans and my daughter travels in two weeks. Numerous phone calls and emails are getting us nowhere.”
Many people put in applications for multiple family members yet the passports ended up at different UK offices, causing confusion.
Others have told how phone line staff have appeared to be trained only to fob them off and tell them they must
not turn up at offices. Many who paid for fast-track services months ago instead found their documents and passports were simply lost, putting them to the back of the queue with no refund.
Civil servants in the UK Passport Office are believed to have processed around three million passports between March and May.
In about 45,000 cases, applicants had waited more than 10 weeks – the current Government target.
It is believed those people have been lost in the system and given a low priority, around 4000 of them Scots desperate to get away on a summer holiday.
Erskine mum Claire Evans is due to fly to Turkey on Thursday but doesn’t know if the family holiday will go ahead because teenage daughter Jenna still hasn’t received her passport 12 weeks after applying.
Frustrated Claire said: “We applied on April 21 for Jenna’s renewal passport. We are going to Turkey on Thursday.
“I have texted the passport office, phoned, been cut off and been on hold for hours. I emailed the expedited team as soon as it hit 10 weeks and went to the passport office in Glasgow on July 4.
“The staff were great but basically told me they would email the expedited team, which I had already done and I was sent away.
“To date, I have heard nothing and that’s despite me even involving my MP.”
Claire added: “My husband, my daughter and her friend are supposed to be going away and we are actually having to chase her friend’s passport as well. It was a lost renewal and has been in for eight weeks at Newport. My daughter’s is at Durham, apparently.
“This holiday was booked four years ago. Firstly to Egypt but Thomsons went bust, so we moved it to the following year, then Covid hit.
“I’m going back to the passport office on Tuesday in a final attempt to get them.
“I haven’t actually thought what will happen if we don’t get them but as a mum, I probably couldn’t enjoy my holiday knowing my daughter couldn’t come. My husband delivers passports with TNT and it’s so frustrating when he comes home every day telling me he’s made someone happy when they get their passports.
“I don’t need to hear that right now.
“Scunnered is an understatement to how I’m feeling.”
Bosses for Teleperformance, which was handed a five-year £22.8million contract by the Home Office to run the passport advice service, were hauled in front of the Home Office to explain the passport issue in April.
They were allegedly told to improve their performance quickly, which led to a faster turnaround for brand new passport applications.
The Home Office was approached for comment.
I haven’t thought about what will happen if we don’t get them CLAIRE EVANS ON PASSPORTS DELAY AHEAD OF HOLIDAY