Yvette Cooper MP, Shadow Home Secretary, commenting after today’s Urgent Question in the Commons on problems in the Passport Office, said:
“At last Theresa May has recognised there are huge problems in the Passport Office. But she has still not apologised to all the people who have had to cancel holidays, honeymoons and business trips because of the crisis in her own Department. The Home Secretary was warned about problems in passport applications weeks ago, but she has had her eye off the ball, rowing with her Cabinet colleagues instead.
“I hope these new measures will work, but it still feels like too little, too late. They should have taken action weeks ago, and they still haven’t told us when the system will be back on track. Staff numbers in the Passport Office are still significantly lower than they were in 2010, we have no detail about whose travel plans will be defined as ‘urgent’ enough for a free fast track service. And another review will do nothing to help all the families who are today facing the prospect of cancelling trips because their passports have not been processed.
“There was no mention of any compensation for all those who have had to pay additional fees in the last few weeks to have their passports processed in time. It is not fair that people have had to pay out for Government incompetence.
"It’s also clear that the Home Secretary’s decision to take over processing passport applications for British citizens abroad at the same time as rising summer demand has completely backfired. This has obviously been very badly managed and created extra pressure when the Passport Office weren’t able to cope with it. The Home Secretary says it was done to improve value for money and security - yet the opposite has now happened with passport extensions and emergency travel documents having to be issued instead.
“Each day we are faced with fresh evidence of total chaos in the Home Office. It’s time for Theresa May to step up, take responsibility for her Department and apologise to all those affected.”
ENDS