§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current average length of time taken to issue a full passport from the time of application at each of the main issuing offices; and what was the average time taken in 1979, 1983 and in the last five years.
§ Mr. RentonPassport applications are processed according to the applicant's travel requirements, with priority being given to urgent cases. As a result, processing times in a given period vary considerably, and averages are not recorded.
The current maximum processing times for straightforward non-urgent postal applications at the six United Kingdom passport offices are shown in the table, together with those of the corresponding periods of the last four years. I regret that information for earlier years is not available.
637W
Passport office Time between receipt of application and issue of passport 21 May 1989 22 May 1988 22 May 1987 23 April 1986 24 May1985 London 25 55 62 24 10 Liverpool 68 15 22 15 6 Peterborough 38 32 19 14 11.5 Newport 45 20 44 25 12 Glasgow 50 33 33 30 10 Belfast 4 4 7 5 4 Most applications are processed well within these maximum periods.
A sharp increase in demand early this year has led to a general increase in processing times. Staff at Glasgow and Liverpool are having to adapt to a new computerised system of passport issuing, and accommodation changes at other offices have also affected output. Additional staff have been employed to help deal with the backlog, and a system of free two-year extensions to the life of expired passports submitted for replacement has been introduced at Liverpool to help relieve the immediate problem there.
§ Mr. AmosTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state for the Liverpool passport office the average length of time it takes to process a correctly completed passport application form for the most recent convenient period for which figures are available, and the comparable figure for the previous year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdPassport applications are processed according to the applicant's travel requirements, with priority being given to urgent cases. As a result, processing times in a given period vary considerably, and averages are not recorded. Straightforward non-urgent postal applications are at present being processed at the Liverpool passport office within a maximum 63 working days, compared with 18 last year. Most applications are processed well within this period.
A sharp increase in demand early this year has increased processing times at Liverpool, where staff are also having to adapt to a new computerised system of passport issuing. Additional staff have been employed to help deal with the backlog, and, as I announced to the House on 11 May, at column 978, a system of free two-year extensions to the life of expired passports is being introduced to help relieve the immediate problem.