New passport warning as Brits face even MORE delays due to lack of staff
BRITS have been warned to expert even more passport delays due to a lack of staff.
The current crisis has affected thousands of families, with many forced to delay or cancel their holidays.
Despite the government currently advising up to 10 weeks for passport applications – up from the standard five weeks – many have waited months to get theirs back.
And now new research has found that more delays could cause problems, according to the Independent, due to new plans to cut staff.
The government has confirmed that they are cutting jobs in the civil service by 91,000 over the next three years, which will affect the Passport Office.
New research issued by the Labour party means this would result in 8,000 fewer passport applications being processed a day.
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This was based on the approximately 43,478 passports processed daily in March 2022 by 4,000 staff members.
With 800 fewer staff, this means only 34,782 passports would be processed daily.
However, the Passport Office has said they “didn’t recognise” the numbers given, adding that they are processing “250,000 applications each week” and were looking at hiring hundreds more staff.
Earlier this month, leaked messages obtained by The Times showed that the current passport delays are only the “beginning of a very lengthy scenario.”
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It claimed that the digital systems to help people get new passports were “rolled out too quickly” and now staff have to use old, slower methods – adding to the backlog.
And the processing system was described as “deeply flawed and half-working” as the Home Office said the current number of applications waiting to be processed was half a million.
The huge delays have led to families fearing cancelled weddings, family trips to Disneyland and first trips abroad for kids.
Brits also need to check the expiry dates of their passports, as they may need to be renewed earlier than realised.
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Many families have been forced to miss their flights after not having enough time left on their passports.
Currently, passports must be no older than 10 years and have at least three months left on them to visit countries in the EU.
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