§ Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the average time taken to obtain a passport by post or by attending an 511W official passport office; and if he will look into the congestion at the Passport Office in Petty France.
§ Mr. LuardThere has been a heavy and unexpected increase in passport applications this year. Priority is given to issuing passports by the date of travel indicated by applicants and, in consequence, non-urgent applications are now taking 6 weeks to process. A temporary increase in staff levels has been authorised which should help to ease the congestion.