HC Deb 05 March 1990 vol 168 cc455-61W
Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department following the review of the telephone systems within the passport department, what percentage of responses to callers are made within two minutes of connection.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

We are currently undertaking a survey of telephone traffic into all passport offices, in consultation with British Telecom. An analysis of the results of the survey will be made later this year.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for(a) new passports, and (b) amendments to passports were received each month in 1989.

London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total
1989
January 49.5 40 63 35 5 1 193.5
February 54 72 84 65 22 2 299
March 48 82 79 70 38 6 323
April 50.5 95 91 70 50 4 360.5
May 66 103 90 86 52 7 404
June 60.5 91 82 73 54 14 374.5
July 59 75 75 75 50 16 350
August 59.9 53 61 52 42 8 275.5
September 23.5 50 46 33 8 4 164.5
October 13 3 17 3 7 1 44
November 2 16 2 7 1 28
December 1 4 2 7 1 15

Salary cost of casual staff in 1989: £1,605,933.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff not employed as permanent members of staff have worked for a continuous period of(a) three months, (b) six months and (c) nine months or more in 1989, showing the information for each passport office.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows the number of casual staff employed continuously at each regional passport office during 1989 for(a) three months or more, (b) six months or more and (c) nine months or more.

(a) (b) (c)
London 20 28 16
Liverpool 42 45 2
Peterborough 32 31 33
Newport 43 28 10
Glasgow 13 35 4
Belfast 20 2 Nil

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many telephone lines are available

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The information, which relates to passports issued rather than to applications received, is shown in the table.

Monthly totals of (a) new passports issued and (b) endorsements and amendments to existing passports each month in 1989.
(a) (b)
January 164,820 25,213
February 243,344 33,286
March 247,260 36,248
April 234,833 35,559
May 235,177 40,011
June 198,793 37,299
July 243,356 44,473
August 233,547 44,245
September 170,547 28,821
October 150,805 28,684
November 163,591 26,140
December 106,189 14,724
Total for year 2,392,262 394,703

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed on a casual basis, that is, not on the permanent staff, at each passport office in each month of 1989; and what was the cost of such staff.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows the number of casual staff in post at each regional office on the last day of each month in 1989, and the annual cost of such staff.

for calls from the public at each passport office in 1990; how many were available in 1989; how many staff are currently allocated to answer such calls; and how many were available to do so during June to October 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows the number of telephone lines available for incoming calls from the public at each passport office in(a) January 1989 and (b) January 1990.

(a) (b)
London 28 28
Liverpool 24 62
Peterborough 24 37
Newport 40 40
Glasgow 12 30
Belfast 3 8

Automatic answering facilities which connect callers initially to recorded information of general interest to passport applicants have been extended to all passport offices. Staff are allocated to telephone inquiry duties according to the overall operational needs of each office, taking into account other demands, in particular that of passport issuing. No precise information is available as to the number of staff available to answer incoming calls during a particular period.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visitors' passports were issued in 1988 and 1989; and how many extensions to passports were issued in 1988 and 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

A total of 2,134,209 British visitor's passports were issued in 1988. Final figures for 1989 issues are not yet available.

During 1989, a total of 39,218 passports submitted for replacement were extended for two years free of charge, under special arrangements introduced to reduce delays.

Information for 1988 is available only in respect of the London passport office, where 18,511 such extensions were issued.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any proposals to increase the number of regional passport offices, and the size of the present regional offices.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The Belfast passport office is being further expanded to take on additional work from other

Date of Receipt
London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast
1989
January 7 December 1988 15 December 1988 16 December 1988 21 December 1988 1 30 December 1988
February 19 January 18 January 23 January 18 January 19 January 3 February
March 8 February 26 January 8 February 2 February 1 3 March
April 13 March 8 February 27 February 20 February 20 February 31 March
May 11 April 10 February 22 March 10 March 2 March 5 May
June 21 April 13 February 6 April 29 March 23 March 31 May
July 10 May 18 February 13 April 25 April 6 April 30 June
August 21 June 1 March 21 April 5 June 11 May 3 August
September 10 August 2 May 20 July 3 August 26 June 1 September
October 8 September 6 September 15 September 25 September 18 August 29 September
November 16 October 17 October 18 October 31 October 20 October 3 November
December 23 November 28 November 22 November 29 November 17 November 1 December
1 Information not available.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what costs were incurred in refunding applicants who obtained visitors' passports due to the delay in obtaining a 10-year passport; and what percentage of these refunds had been paid to applicants who had acknowledgement that they would receiving same.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Refunds totalling £160,716 were authorised during 1989. An acknowledgement would normally be sent before payment.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made for the likely staff costs for the passport department in the financial years(a) 1990–91 and (b) 1991–92; and what proportion of each of these budgets will be allocated for (i) permanent staff, (ii) casual staff and (iii) overtime;

(2) what was the total budget for salaries and overtime in passport offices in 1989–90; what is the estimated expenditure; and what is the estimated expenditure for 1990–91.

offices. The optimum size, number and location of passport offices in the United Kingdom are kept under regular review.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider a further national public compaign run over several months to encourage people to apply for new passports in the months from January to June and November and December to level out demand.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The peak period of demand for passports runs from February to August, and it would not be appropriate to encourage further applications during this period. The Passport Department's publicity, which included the distribution last autumn of 1 million leaflets through the travel trade, is directed towards encouraging applicants to apply during the months of November and December, when demand is at its lightest. We shall be considering a further publicity drive later in the year.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate the date of receipt of applications for new passports being dealt with on the first day in each month in 1989 at each passport office.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows the available information as to the date of receipt of applications for new passports being dealt with by each regional passport office at the first weekend of each month in 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The salaries and overtime element of the Passport Department's budget for running costs in 1989–90 amounted to £10.12 million. This is likely to be considerably exceeded due to the heavy demand for passport services during the year, but it is not yet possible to say precisely what the outturn expenditure will be. Budget estimates for 1990–91 and 1991–92 have yet to be finally determined.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated amount of overtime expected to be worked in each passport office in 1990; and what is the estimated cost.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The requirements for overtime working are determined by operational needs, which are in turn determined by the level and pattern of demand for passport services. Budget estimates for 1990–91 have yet to be finally determined.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated time expected to be taken between receipt by application and issue of (a) new passports, (b) renewals and (c) amendments to passports at each office in 1990.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The passport department will be aiming in 1990 to process straightforward, non-urgent passport applications of all types within a maximum of 30 working days during the period between January and June, and within 20 working days at other times. Urgent cases will receive priority and should not normally be subject to delay.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been taken so far to meet projected rises in demand for passports during 1990.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

An additional 220 permanent staff have been recruited to meet the expected increase in demand for passports this year. Twenty-two of these additional staff are being employed in Belfast and it is planned that a further increase in the Belfast staff should be made when additional accommodation becomes available in April or May. Improvements have been made in the telephone systems to enable a better service to be given to customers making inquiries by telephone. Greater

London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast
January 19 9 11 5 1 2
February 13 21 13 17 14 3
March 20 28 21 23.5 1 4
April 18 40 24 28 28 4
May 20 59 33 40 47 4
June 30 77 42 46 52 7
July 37 97 56 48 59 3
August 36 110 76 45.5 61 3
September 16 88 35 21.5 48 3
October 15 19 12 7 30 3
November 15 15 14 4.5 11 3
December 9 7 10 3.5 11 3
1 Information Not Available

Note: Figures are those at the first weekend of each month in 1989

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of staff(a) in post and (b) actually on duty on the first day of each month in 1989.

London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast
(a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b)
January 278.5 271.5 198.5 140.5 184 139 201 161 135.5 102.5 12 9
February 282 268 228.5 196.5 224.5 194.5 232 212 154.5 137 13 9
March 275 260 263.5 222 246.5 200.5 235.5 199.5 177.5 155 17 16
April 278 260 273 206 240.5 217 235.5 187.5 192.5 163.5 21 17
May 284.5 268.5 284 225.5 258.5 228.5 251 218 208.5 172 19 15
June 278.5 270 293 158.5 254.5 210 235 199 216.5 185 21.5 21.5
July 276 269 290 235 247.5 187 237 194 216.5 171.5 29.5 26.5
August 276.5 261.5 278 215.5 240 195.5 219 170 211.5 161.5 31 5 22.5
September 239.5 228.5 271 203.5 222.5 170.5 210 165 212.5 152 30 23
October 226 221 265.5 197.5 231.5 199.5 201 178 202.5 169 27 26
November 208 192 251.5 171.5 217.5 194.5 205 172 210 175 40 38
December 204 192 253.5 171.5 216.5 181.5 207 181 210 140 44.5 39.5
Column (a) numbers of staff in post.
Column (b) number of staff on duty.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate(a) the number of hours' overtime, (b) the average number of hours' overtime, and (c) the cost of such overtime to each passport office in each month in 1989.

use is being made of arrangements to transfer applications between offices, to balance workloads and to improve average processing times. The computer systems in the Glasgow and Liverpool offices have been enhanced to cater for the increases in staff numbers and pilot schemes have been established at both offices to test alternative working methods recommended following a review by consultants. Computerisation of the offices in Belfast, London, Newport and Peterborough has been deferred pending evaluation of the results of these pilot schemes.

Mr. Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average time taken to process applications for new passports at each office from time of receipt to date of issue as at the first day of each month in 1989; and what was the average time taken to process applications for(a) renewal and (b) amendments to passports at each office from time of receipt to date of issue on the first day of each month in 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I regret that the information is not available in precisely the form requested. The processing times in working days for straightforward non-urgent applications of all types are shown in the table and relate to applications completed on the dates shown.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows(a) the number of staff in post and (b) on duty at each regional passport office on the first working day of each month on 1989.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The table shows the monthly number of hours overtime worked at each regional passport office and the estimated cost of such overtime in 1989.

London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast
January Hours 3,877 4,383 4,251 4,387 1,935
£ 35,035 39,607 38,414 39,643 17,486
February Hours 4,212 9,354 4,036 5,180 4,302
£ 38,062 84,528 36,472 46,809 38,875
March Hours 5,779 14,591 7,455 6,415 4,369
£ 52,222 131872 67,368 57,970 39,481
April Hours 4,654 7,821 5,617 5,334 6,296 378
£ 42,056 70,657 50,758 48,201 56,894 3,416
May Hours 4,692 8,209 8,321 3,778 4,720 971
£ 42,400 74,181 75,193 34,140 42,653 8,774
June Hours 2,806 5,223 4,019 3,019 4,841 822
£ 25,357 47,198 36,318 27,281 43,746 7,428
July Hours 4,747 6,330 4,205 4,292 5,969 1,373
£ 42,897 57,201 37,999 38,785 53,939 12,407
August Hours 4,886 6,297 4,173 4,013 3,140 528
£ 44,153 56,903 37,710 36,264 28,375 4,771
September Hours 3,125 2,555 3,550 3,212 2,991 856
£ 28,239 23,088 32,080 29,025 27,028 7,735
October Hours 3,048 256 2,825 753
£ 27,543 2,313 25,528 6,805
November Hours 692 433 434 805 443
£ 6,253 3,913 3,922 7,274 4,003
December Hours 504 82 75
£ 4,554 741 678

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