Passport boss is hauled into Downing St and given a dressing down

THE head of the Passport Office was summoned to Downing Street yesterday as the backlog in applications hit 700,000.

Families could have to cancel summer holidays after average waiting times for passports rocketed to more than ten weeks.

The delays have added to criticism of civil servants working from home. Callers to customer services have been left on hold for hours and told by staff at home that they cannot access case files.

Abi Tierney, 48, the boss of the 3,500-strong Passport Office, who lives in Leicestershire, was called to No10 to explain to ministers the ‘shambolic’ waiting times. The

Home Office fended off criticism that the £160,000-a-year boss did not have a handle on the crisis because she lives around two hours from the London office.

Matthew Rycroft, the Permanent Secretary, said that where she lived had ‘precisely zero bearing on the current situation with passports’, adding that the claim she is under pressure to return to London fulltime ‘ignores reality’.

He said that 90 per cent of Passport Office staff worked in sites outside London, and that she works ‘with teams around the country’.

But David Jones, a former minister, said the claim ‘underlines the importance of civil servants getting back to the office environment’.

Tory MP Henry Smith said it was ‘unacceptable’ for staff to ‘retain Covid-era working practices’.

He damned the ‘notable deterioration in services’, adding: ‘We expect people in leadership positions to demonstrate leadership.

‘I’m concerned this doesn’t appear to be the case here.’

Kerri Cuthbert, who runs a photography business in Devon, has been waiting for a new passport since September, and has just had to cancel a job in Bordeaux.

Passport staff say they are ‘panicked’ by the ‘never-ending’ workload and a system that is ‘not fit for purpose’. One worker told the i newspaper: ‘Our major issue is staffing. They were trying to hire 1,700 staff but they haven’t realised anything like that number.’

Earlier this week, Jacob ReesMogg released a picture of an empty Cabinet Office department after he left a note for absent staff. ‘Sorry you were out, I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon,’ it said.

Mr Rees-Mogg, the Minister for Government Efficiency, told the Daily Mail that civil servants needed to use their plush London offices or ‘lose’ them. After he released the picture of an empty office, he said: ‘It looked as if it hadn’t been used in two years. The notices were still from 2020. So I left three notes saying please come back into work.

‘And I wrote on the white board saying, can we reallocate this space because you clearly don’t need it?’

He added: ‘Thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being spent, and either they need to be there or they don’t. If they don’t, we should reallocate and put somebody into this property.’

‘Our major issue is staffing’