Passports: Civil Servants' Industrial Action (Hansard, 15 May 1981)

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, passport applicants wishing to make short visits to Western Europe and Canada are being encouraged to obtain British Visitor's passports from main post offices in Great Britain. Because the industrial action has been preventing mail being delivered to the passport offices in Great Britain, the public are also being advised to submit urgent applications for standard passports by hand to one of the passport offices. These applications are being given the priority required by the applicant's date of travel. At the Liverpool and Glasgow offices even this counter service is on a very limited scale because of the extent of the industrial action. While the industrial action persists, there are no other steps which could be taken to reduce delays in processing passport applications.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his reply. Is he aware that although in a passport Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State requests and requires all whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, there is a great deal of hindrance at present at the passport offices themselves, to the immense inconvenience of loyal and deserving citizens? Is my noble friend further aware that, though the unions have stated that it was not their intention to disrupt the lives of the public, family holidays and business travel are being seriously disrupted?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I suppose it has to be said that before one can take advantage of the splendid rubric at the front of the passport, one must have the passport in one's hand. That, unfortunately, is the problem at the present time. But it is the case that the council of the Civil Service unions indicated that it was not their intention in any way to affect the public by this action and I must say that I fail to see how they can sustain that argument in the present situation.

§ Lord Strabolgi
My Lords, may I ask the Government what is the present state of progress in the negotiations, if there is any progress or any negotiations taking place, with the Civil Service unions? Are they aware that many thousands of people have been held up who have already planned their holidays and that many of them have paid for package deals but are now unable to travel, an event unprecendented in modern history? Are the Government doing anything about it or are they merely sitting back stubbornly?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I cannot hide from your Lordships the fact that this is a very serious situation. Very many people, thousands of people, no doubt, will in the short term be affected by this industrial action. As for Government action in the matter, if the noble Lord means that we should magic some resources out of the air to pay these people yet more money, I should have to disagree with him. I can say that a little chink of light has emerged in recent days. I understand that the chief negotiator on the trade union side has written to my noble friend the Lord President and I hope a meeting will be able to be arranged shortly.

§ Lord Gladwyn
My Lords, in the unfortunate event of somebody wanting to go abroad who has a passport which is out of date and which cannot be renewed owing to industrial action, will that person be allowed through the Customs by being, able to plead force majeure?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I do not think that I can give an undertaking that that can happen. Certainly, each individual case has to be examined on its merits. In general terms, the immigration authorities need to be satisfied as to the identity of the person concerned. If, for example, a traveller's passport expired while he was abroad and he returned to this country I have no doubt that he would be let in if he could satisfy the authorities as to his identity and the fact that he was entitled to enter in normal circumstances.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, I think I understood from my noble friend's first reply that he said that passport applications were not being delivered to the Passport Office owing to industrial action. Is this because the Post Office are not delivering? If so, would it not come under the basis of secondary action? There is no quarrel between the Government and the Post Office. Could he clarify that position for us?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I understand that almost all the passport offices are in fact being picketed to prevent the delivery of mail.

§ Lord Leatherland
My Lords, will Her Majesty's Government try to persuade the Civil Service unions to transfer this "go-slow" from the Passport Office to the Inland Revenue Department?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, the core of the effect of the dispute within the passport service is, I understand, that the senior passport officers who are in normal circumstances required to authorise the issue of particular passports—which your Lordships will understand is a very skilled and technical matter—have been called out on strike.

§ Lord Elwyn-Jones
My Lords, regarding the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord Gladwyn, would not the difficulty be that the British traveller going to a country on a passport which was out-of-date would probably not be admitted into that country, so it would be a rather expensive experiment in improvisation, would it not?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I am certain the noble and learned Lord is right. It would be very unwise to leave this country with a passport which is out-of-date or which is just about to expire.

Lord Morris
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that only recently a friend of mine, in an attempt to join her husband who is working in Kenya, was forced to travel from the South East corner of England to Peterborough in order to collect her passport herself at considerable expense? To the distress of the Peterborough Passport Office, they were stopped from issuing the passport to her. This was by people not directly involved in the strike.

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I much regret that the effect of this dispute has been to inconvenience seriously a number of passengers and a number of proposing travellers. I have no doubt that the numbers will greatly increase if the dispute is not shortly resolved. It is hard to reconcile this situation with the assertion given by the Council of Trade Unions that they were not proposing to affect the public.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that secondary action is currently illegal under the last Employment Bill? Is it clear that these pickets are pickets by people employed in that particular place of business? If they are not, then they are illegal. What action is being taken to bring them in line with the law?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I am not aware that any of the picketing going on is against the law, as my noble friend suggests. But, if my noble friend has any specific case that he wants the Government to look at, I shall certainly arrange for that to happen.

§ Lord Swinfen
My Lords, is the prevention of delivery of mail to the passport offices not an illegal disruption of Her Majesty's mails?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I think that it would be going too far to say that passport officers picketing their own place of work were exceeding their legal rights in this matter. This is a rather technical legal matter and I would not want your Lordships to think that I was offering detailed legal advice.

§ Lord Plant
My Lords, would the Minister accept that this House—particularly this side—welcomes the indication that there is a chink of light in this dispute? Therefore, would the Minister inform us whether the discussions that are to take place next week are going to be meaningful so far as the Government are concerned?

§ Lord Trefgarne
My Lords, I am not able to confirm that discussions will take place next week; but I very much hope that they will.