§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the time-scale for processing64W passport applications at the Peterborough Passport Office received (a) by post and (b) by special arrangement with Post Office Counters. [88166]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe processing time for passport applications received by the Peterborough Passport Office by post is 33 days and for applications received via Post Office Counters is seven days.
The Passport Agency is currently prioritising applications by customers' declared travel dates, and the processing time for postal work at the Peterborough Passport is for non-urgent applications.
Applications received via Post Office Counters are easier to process, and generally have more urgent travel dates. Non-urgent applications received by partners would not be given priority over urgent postal applications.
§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements the UK Passport Agency has made with Post Office Counters for fast-tracking the processing of passport applications. [88164]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIn view of its current operational problems, the Agency has changed the arrangement with Post Office Counters Ltd., and the Liverpool Office is now dealing with applications from them in 20 working days, and from its five other passport offices in 15 working days.
Due to its current backlog of work, the Agency is prioritising all applications by travel dates and there are delays in some offices in processing non-urgent work received from the Post Office.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of telephone calls from members of the public to each of the Passport Agency's offices which were left unanswered in each of the last 12 months. [88506]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe information on the number of calls receiving a courtesy message during the last 12 months is shown in the table. This record represents the nearest equivalent to the number of calls left unanswered. These figures include repeat calls. The Passport Agency cannot at present determine the proportion of repeat calls. These figures are collated centrally and cannot be broken down to an estimate for each office in any accurate way.
65W
Month Total 1998 June 288,000 July 308,000 August 131,000 September 100,000 October 90,,000 November 80,000 December 95,0000 1999 January 118,000 February 210,000
Month Total March 452,000 April 460,000 May 1,110,000
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the public the Passport Agency has agreed to pay(a) compensation and (b) ex-gratia payments to during the last 12 months; and what is the total sum of money involved. [88513]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Passport Agency's compensation policy is to reimburse the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by customers as a direct consequence of clear operational errors, or failure to provide an acceptable level of service by means of an ex-gratia payment.
Each case is considered carefully on its merits. It is not the Agency's normal policy to make compensation payments for distress and inconvenience arising from such errors and failures. Records of compensation payments are not split into compensation and ex-gratia categories.
The information requested on compensation payments made by the Agency in the last 12 months is shown in the table.
Month Number of complaints where compensation paid Total compensation paid (£) 1998 June 160 5,256 July 266 7,460 August 244 6,079 September 188 7,234 October 194 7,453 November 180 8,127 December 179 7,166 1999 January 181 5,785 February 196 7,955 March 245 5,453 April 256 7,748 May 219 7,551
66W
Month London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total January 1996 5,574 34,400 22,888 26,576 16,878 4,572 111,488 February 1996 5,053 40,450 16,583 20,444 20,457 5,570 108,557 March 1996 3,031 39,272 17,230 27,627 18,689 6,670 112,519 April 1996 3,790 45,565 30,442 33,885 31,145 9,064 153,891 May 1996 6,554 53,689 36,175 36,409 36,181 7,674 176,682 June 1996 5,244 52,807 37,277 39,236 41,368 8,230 184,162 July 1996 3,916 48,820 38,450 41,798 46,739 5,645 185,368 August 1996 2,615 32,717 15,019 25,708 22,982 3,349 102,390 September 1996 2,641 36,859 23,636 25,402 23,855 1,682 114,055 October 1996 4,072 29,323 21,206 18,945 16,225 3,593 93,394 November 1996 2,294 15,079 10,384 12,905 13,321 2,391 56,374 December 1996 2,279 12,399 6,435 6,654 7,821 289 35,877
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for(a) new passports and (b) renewed passports the Passport Agency has received in each month since January 1996. [88783]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe information requested on the numbers of applications for new and renewal passports is set out as follows:
(a) Applications for new passports Month 1996 1997 1998 1999 January 251,416 188,230 190,490 152,392 February 248,914 207,815 250,487 217,924 March 277,060 233,848 238,029 326,094 April 256,504 216,327 192,314 304,653 May 382,388 283,733 268,357 306,083 June 330,684 267,757 244,900 — July 307,225 248,624 233,388 — August 276,812 234,103 230,835 — September 162,861 140,485 198,630 — October 141,095 126,325 124,095 — November 149,160 126,034 162,103 — December 72,121 67,947 95,493 — Total 2,856,240 2,341,128 2,429,121 111,307,146
(b) Applications for renewed passports Month 1996 1997 1998 1999 January 200,740 182,316 167,118 133,694 February 167,357 176,278 202,910 176,531 March 178,702 180,609 176,988 225,903 April 166,004 157,767 167,118 198,302 May 211,634 189,558 202,910 201,010 June 172,632 166,749 176,988 — July 164,136 156,418 168,073 — August 163,782 165,872 179,665 — September 167,538 111,095 109,214 — October 102,799 108,695 96,898 — November 124,729 116,654 131,618 — December 58,565 61,819 67,570 — Total 1,878,609 1,773,830 1,847,070 935,440
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in respect of each office of the Passport Agency the number of unprocessed passport applications which were outstanding at the end of each month from January 1996 to date. [88511]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe information requested on the numbers of unprocessed passport applications outstanding at the end of each month from January 1996 is set out in the table.
67W
Month London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total January 1997 3,512 39,153 14,526 22,296 18,499 2,791 100,777 February 1997 3,250 41,716 25,554 29,847 28,774 5,400 134,543 March 1997 1,620 52,395 29,042 33,435 24,798 4,265 145,555 April 1997 2,723 59,353 35,593 45,757 36,037 4,798 184,261 May 1997 3,133 67,690 51,279 40,438 39,413 6,302 208,255 June 1997 4,796 69,589 52,393 60,078 46,914 3,353 237,123 July 1997 4,014 67,217 53,356 57,029 49,989 1,860 233,467 August 1997 3,389 51,004 31,074 31,789 32,942 5,372 155,525 September 1997 3,166 31,489 20,059 28,760 18,026 2,784 105,284 October 1997 2,300 28,842 18,277 21,997 22,368 3,415 97,199 November 1997 2,766 20,990 13,536 19,682 21,376 5,059 83,409 December 1997 1,944 23,648 13,924 16,613 19,556 2,612 78,297 January 1998 2,382 31,808 32,012 34,906 31,169 6,290 139,017 February 1998 2,742 59,798 41,843 37,735 36,090 7,309 185,517 March 1998 3,724 70,242 57,172 47,046 58,959 6,713 243,856 April 1998 3,640 49,089 38,577 43,214 46,810 7,896 189,226 May 1998 4,205 48,124 7,636 27,452 25,846 7,733 120,996 June 1998 5,456 74,155 58,238 68,422 48,836 8,018 263,125 July 1998 4,179 70,527 48,272 56,388 49,012 11,373 239,751 August 1998 2,439 26,348 23,744 26,597 34,144 11,440 124,712 September 1998 3,775 2,907 41,606 20,827 47,376 3,314 119,805 October 1998 7,268 1,867 38,250 3,125 42,435 4,903 97,848 November 1998 7,048 27,419 13,986 3,494 55,470 9,165 116,582 December 1998 4,205 48,124 7,636 27,452 25,846 7,733 120,996 January 1999 5,249 31,173 39,966 31,380 40,532 18,610 166,910 February 1999 8,095 81,396 60,206 57,540 58,605 14,351 280,193 March 1999 9,809 71,387 68,784 53,817 72,810 24,417 301,024 April 1999 9,530 97,030 90,403 61,992 102,102 36,016 397,073 May 1999 11,684 143,093 934,411 383,751 127,416 25,049 487,658
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, in each month from January 1994 to date and in respect of each of the Passport Agency's six offices, was the time taken to process(a) new applications and (b) renewal applications; and if he will make a statement. [88627]
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Average maximum processing times in working days London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast 1994 January 2 5 3 4 3 3 February 3 8 5 7 4 4 March 3 8 5 6 6 6 April 2 7 5 5 7 7 May 3 13 7 9 11 8 June 4 15 9 11 15 8 July 5 13 10 10 13 7 August 4 11 7 7 7 4 September 1 8 4 8 4 6 October 1 4 5 3 5 6 November 3 3 3 1 5 2 December 5 2 1 1 2 1 1995 January 2 4 3 4 4 4 February 1 6 4 6 6 6 March 2 5 5 5 6 4 April 2 6 5 6 7 6 May 3 7 6 6 10 7 June 2 11 8 7 13 6 July 3 10 8 8 14 10 August 5 9 7 6 9 8 September 5 9 6 7 7 5 October 4 7 6 8 8 8 November 4 3 4 4 3 4 December 5 4 2 3 5 2
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe table shows the average maximum times taken at each of the Passport Agency's offices to process all straightforward, properly completed applications in each month from January 1994. The Passport Agency does not collate this information separately for new and renewal applications and the figures represent the maximum turnaround times for all applications:
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Average maximum processing times in working days London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast 1996 January 4 5 5 5 5 4 February 3 5 3 4 4 3 March 2 5 3 5 5 4 April 4 5 5 5 6 5 May 2 6 6 6 7 6 June 2 7 8 9 10 7 July 2 8 8 10 12 8 August 1 7 6 7 10 5 September 1 7 6 6 7 5 October 5 8 7 7 9 6 November 3 5 5 6 5 4 December 2 3 3 4 1 4 1997 January 2 5 3 3 5 3 February 2 7 4 5 8 6 March 2 8 6 7 7 8 April 3 8 7 7 8 7 May 2 10 8 8 10 6 June 3 10 10 9 10 7 July 5 14 12 13 14 7 August 6 14 11 12 16 7 September 3 11 8 10 11 5 October 3 8 7 12 9 5 November 2 7 6 7 7 6 December 3 8 8 10 10 6 1998 January 4 6 7 7 8 7 February 5 7 8 7 9 8 March 5 9 10 9 11 7 April 5 9 7 8 12 7 May 5 10 10 12 14 8 June 5 14 14 21 23 10 July 5 22 15 20 20 10 August 4 19 11 13 12 13 September 2 6 8 6 13 9 October 4 9 14 5 15 6 November 3 17 7 2 16 9 December 2 17 4 15 23 9 1999 January 2 16 5 12 11 8 February 4 20 11 20 10 14 March 6 25 12 28 16 16 April 6 33 15 36 18 21 May 5 46 27 33 26 31 The Passport Agency has, for a number of years, had a very good record of delivering services. The average annual maximum processing time on straightforward properly completed applications has been under 10 working days in each of the financial years from 1994–95 to 1997–98.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the revenue which the Passport Agency will forgo in the current financial year as a result of the extension of the period of passport validity free of charge. [88510]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Passport Agency's estimate of the income forgone as a result of the use of two year exceptional extensions to clear quickly, straightforward
70Wrenewal applications is £1.08 million, based on an average fee of £18. The income will be recouped in two years.
The cost of processing an exceptional extension is much less than a full 10-year passport. Hence, in terms of matching income and expenditure the loss is much less than £18.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average period of time for determining passport applications in each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each month from January 1996 to date. [88515]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe information requested is shown in the table.
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Average processing time in working days Month Belfast London Newport Liverpool Peterborough Glasgow 1996 January 4 4 5 5 5 4 February 3 3 4 5 3 4 March 4 2 5 5 3 5 April 5 4 5 5 5 6 May 6 2 6 6 6 7 June 7 2 9 7 7 10 July 8 3 10 8 8 12 August 5 1 7 7 6 10 September 5 1 7 7 5 7 October 6 5 7 8 7 9 November 4 3 6 5 4 5 December 4 2 4 3 3 1 1997 January 3 2 3 5 3 5 February 6 2 5 7 4 8 March 8 2 7 8 6 7 April 7 3 7 8 7 8 May 6 3 8 9 8 9 June 7 3 9 10 10 11 July 7 5 13 14 12 14 August 7 6 12 14 11 16 September 5 3 10 11 8 11 October 4 3 12 8 7 9 November 6 2 7 7 6 7 December 6 3 10 8 8 10 1998 January 7 4 7 6 7 8 February 8 5 7 7 8 9 March 8 5 9 9 10 11 April 7 5 8 9 7 12 May 9 5 12 10 10 14 June 9 5 21 14 14 23 July 10 5 21 22 15 20 August 13 4 13 19 11 13 September 9 2 6 6 8 13 October 6 4 6 9 13 15 November 8 4 3 17 9 16 December 9 2 15 14 4 22 1999 January 8 2 12 16 5 11 February 14 4 20 20 11 10 March 16 6 28 25 12 16 April 21 6 36 33 15 18 May 31 5 33 46 27 26 June1 36 6 40 38 34 36 1 Up to week ending 20 June 1999
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed currently(a) in total and (b) broken down by grade at each of the Passport Agency's offices. [88802]
§ Mr. Milke O'BrienThe total number of staff currently employed in the Passport Agency is 1,828. The breakdown by grade is shown in the table:
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Grade Number Grade 5 2 Grade 6 2 Grade 7 11
Grade Number Senior Executive Officer 18 Higher Executive Officer 65 Executive Officer 194 Administrative Officer 870 Administrative Assistant 666 Total 1,828 The Agency has transferred 197 staff to Siemens Business Services, but they are still working on producing Passports in Partnership with United Kingdom Passport Agency.
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74W75W
Grade HQ London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total Permanent staff in post Senior Civil Servant 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Grade 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Grade 7 5 1 1 1 1 1 0 10 Senior Executive Officer 12 1 1 1 1 1 1 18 Higher Executive Officer 26 6 8.67 7 6 8 3 64.67 Executive Officer 10 33 42 31.56 28 34.59 13.2 192.35 P03 11.4 118.5 163.31 106.7 116.5 97.88 53.4 667.69 P02 0 0 27.98 1 0 11 1 40.98 PO1 4 43.5 15.23 31.4 9 22.59 11.5 137.22 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 1 0.95 0 0 0 0 1.95 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 72.4 204 260.14 179.66 161.5 176.06 83.1 1,136.86 Permanent staff in substantive grades Senior Civil Servant 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Grade 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Grade 7 6 1 0 0 1 1 0 9 Senior Executive Officer 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 Higher Executive Officer 21 6 4 5 5 5 3 49 Executive Officer 14 31 26.43 25.56 20 23.59 12.2 152.78 P03 15.4 120.5 175.23 103.2 124.5 106.9 44.6 690.33 P02 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 P01 6 43.5 53.48 44.88 10 36.57 22.3 216.73 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 72.4 204 260.14 179.64 161.5 176.06 83.1 1136.8 Number of part-year appointments Senior Civil Servant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P03 0 0 6 67.27 30 0 2 105.27 P02 0 0 2 2 0 0 12 16 PO1 0 0 40.61 24.18 15 33 22 134.79 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 48.61 93.45 45 33 36 256.06 Number of daytime casual staff Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P03 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO1 1 0 35 87.43 35 109.59 13 281.02 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1 0 35 87.43 35 109.59 13 281.02 Number of evening casual staff Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P03 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P01 0 0 0.54 28.08 3.5 31.86 0 63.98 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0.54 28.08 3.5 31.86 0 63.98
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Grade HQ London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total Number of daytime fixed term appointments Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO3 0 3 3.76 12.64 0 0 0 19.4 PO2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P01 0 0 0 6.24 6 2.08 0 14.32 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1 3 3.76 18.88 6 2.08 0 34.72 Number of evening fixed term appointments Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO3 0 0 0.54 11.88 0 0 0 12.42 PO2 0 0 0 8.64 0 0 0 8.64 PO1 0 0 0.54 0.54 26.5 6.48 0 34.06 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 1.08 21.06 26.5 6.48 0 55.12 Number of recurring temporary appointments Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 P01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Number of seasonal days Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 0 720.97 0 0 0 0 Executive Officer 0 0 0 977.11 0 0 0 24 PO3 0 0 192.58 998.36 463.5 0 29.5 6,676.1 PO2 0 0 587.58 1,008.7 465.5 0 203 911.42 P01 31 0 1365.2 0 1,179.5 3,477.2 538 9,285.3 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 31 0 2145.3 3,705.2 2,108.5 3,477.2 770.5 16897 Number of days overtime Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 4.03 0 0 10.35 0 0 0 14.38 Higher Executive Officer 33.87 22.26 16.35 30.33 52.5 35.5 4.52 195.33 Executive Officer 27.78 37.5 226.68 96.98 135 220 58.83 802.77 PO3 8.06 182.78 769.51 450.12 758 533.5 310.31 2,701.97 PO2 0 0 229.83 12.1 174 65.5 29 510.43 P01 0 11.46 261.58 555.09 255 566.5 175.75 1,825.38 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 4.37 0 0 0 0 4.37 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 73.74 258.37 1,504 1,155 1,374.5 1,421 268.1 6,054.63
Grade HQ London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total Number of days deputising Grade 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grade 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Senior Executive Officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Higher Executive Officer 0 0 12 0 0 25 0 37 Executive Officer 0 0 104 0 14 153 0 271 PO3 0 0 4.5 0 23 90 13.5 131 PO2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PO1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.5 8.5 Typing Manager (RO)/SPS (HQ) 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 Support Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 123.5 0 37 268 22 450.5
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) telephone and (b) written inquiries have been received in each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each of the last 12 months. [88621]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Passport Agency's published telephone inquiry number is a single non-geographical number (0870 5210410). The inquiry service is fronted by an automated menu system which, depending on the option selected, then routes calls to either an appropriate
Telephone inquiries Month Recorded/ courtesy messages Belfast Glasgow London Liverpool Newport Peterborough June 1998 516,045 13,521 25,918 22,512 37,624 46,013 21,596 July 1998 563,559 11,196 24,457 15,305 36,151 41,376 25,153 August 1998 279,214 9,047 26,776 15,168 1— 34,086 23,936 September 1998 202,702 8,744 26,724 26,805 1— 1— 25,592 October 1998 291,458 10,764 23,576 30,123 13,569 1— 1— November 1998 131,726 7,366 23,348 31,195 20,129 26,481 15,103 December 1998 192,176 1,412 17,292 20,712 17,969 22,465 16,796 January 1999 332,296 875 21,984 26,725 21,445 32,911 25,566 February 1999 370,537 4,152 20,878 23,691 17,421 35,479 27,982 March 1999 668,287 4,876 25,914 38,020 15,060 30,148 29,470 April 1999 669,048 9,249 19,822 15,324 10,914 25,695 20,036 May 1999 1,388,522 9,175 16,706 17,053 6,893 26,240 12,988 Management information not available due to refurbishment work.
Written inquiries Month Belfast Glasgow London Liverpool Newport Peterborough June 1998 182 538 111 1,866 1,874 602 July 1998 197 591 120 2,430 1,712 813 August 1998 293 679 88 1,494 2,238 473 September 1998 243 574 110 1,589 1,802 502 October 1998 91 539 87 1,304 1,631 496 November 1998 157 353 111 1,736 913 813 December 1988 262 588 159 1,399 600 118 January 1999 193 423 144 2,200 3,058 464 February 1999 208 528 194 1,566 2,600 2,171 March 1999 262 800 241 2,025 2,856 2,376 April 1999 428 839 231 2,016 2,808 2,162 May 1999 156 2,468 358 2,152 2,014 1,944
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications in each month since January 1996 have been endorsed with a two year extension; and if he will make a statement. [88505]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Passport Agency currently has backlogs and in order to clear quickly straightforward renewal applications, certain existing passports are being extended provided certain criteria are fulfilled.
78Wrecorded message (for general inquiries) or an operator (for specific inquiries).
An element of the calls are, therefore, answered centrally by recorded messages, whilst the remainder are transferred to the local office to be answered by an operator. If all lines to the local office are busy, customers receive a courtesy message for that office. To provide the full picture, the number of calls answered centrally by recorded and courtesy messages has also been included.
The number of extensions that have been made are as follows:
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Number May 1999 -18,918 June 1999 (to date) -19,178 Total 38,096 The only other extensions that have been made by the Passport Agency since January 1996 have been a total of 183 made by the out-of-hours duty officer in the London office to facilitate travel for those requiring an emergency service.
The temporary extension of passports is a sensible easement to reduce queues and assist people to travel. Arrears of passport applications are double the amount last year and have been caused by an exceptional rise in applications since April, additional applications arising from the requirements for children to have separate passports and arrears which accrued following the introduction of a new issuing system which is being piloted in Liverpool and Newport. The criteria to be met before extensions are given are that the holders details remain unchanged, the passport has not expired more than five years previously, the passport is not damaged or altered, the passport is not subject to restrictions, and the applicant's appearance is clearly identifiable.
These extended passports are properly issued passports valid for travel and immigration authorities abroad have been made aware of the position. There is no relaxation in security and proper checks are made before the passports are extended. The measures are temporary and expected to cease by September when current backlogs are expected to be cleared.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the Passport Agency's business plan for 1999–2000. [88512]
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Children's applications for passports Months London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total 1999 January 3,272 19,240 24,887 24,310 14,634 6,181 92,524 February 3,749 24,465 28,779 25,054 27,193 8,141 117,381 March 5,458 27,483 45,336 19,614 39,312 14,337 151,540 April 3,496 38,812 34,131 31,548 32,971 11,370 152,328 May 6,333 33,888 53,502 39,498 39,824 18,487 191,532 June' 3,453 15,723 23,487 21,573 19,296 7,706 91,238 July — — — — — — — August — — — — — — — September — — — — — — — October — — — — — — — November — — — — — — — December — — — — — — — Total 25,761 159,611 210,122 161,597 173,230 66,222 796,543 1998 January 2,337 7,877 10,154 9,348 6,372 1,640 37,728 February 2,355 9,427 10,426 9,833 5,446 2,011 39,498 March 2,769 10,865 11,383 11,844 7,877 2,549 47,287 April 2,138 9,728 9,924 9,646 5,715 2,401 39,552 May 2,693 13,834 13,920 13,392 9,894 3,635 57,368 June 2,682 14,316 12,819 12,610 8,687 3,044 54,158 July 3,738 12,127 14,220 10,473 8,559 2,724 51,841 August 3,890 7,518 12,544 9,639 8,956 2,348 44,895 September 1,592 1,067 9,473 7,639 7,301 2,160 29,232 October 3,170 4,384 10,934 5,545 9,662 4,029 37,724 November 4,751 11,635 15,081 7,607 20,202 6,330 65,606 December 3,276 9,175 11,439 6,871 6,432 4,417 41,610 Total 35,391 111,953 142,317 114,447 105,103 37,288 546,499 1997 January 2,385 8,610 9,732 8,822 5,795 1,022 36,366 February 2,474 8,247 9,835 9,566 6,224 1,471 37,817 March 2,805 9,295 10,788 9,943 6,917 1,588 41,336
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Agency is working to a three year Corporate Plan. 1 expect to receive the Agency's Business Plan for 1999–2000 in the next few weeks, to take account of decisions on the full implementation of the new computerised issuing arrangements.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in providing telephone answering facilities at each of the Passport Agency's offices. [88507]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe Agency is currently recruiting additional staff, some of whom could be allocated to the telephone inquiry bureau (TEB) at each local office. In the short term, this could help to improve the service by extending the use of existing telephone equipment.
The Agency has appointed consultants to review all technical and business options and make recommendations for improving the telephone inquiry service. This initiative takes forward an Agency's commitment to improve communications for members of the public. It will include modernising government initiatives and investigate the opportunity to automate progress inquiries using the new computer system.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children's applications for passports have been received at each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each month from January 1996 to date. [88514]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienInformation on the numbers of applications for passports for children under the age of 16 years is set out in the table:
81W
Children's applications for passports Months London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Total April 2,058 8,257 8,918 9,453 6,100 1,314 36,100 May 3,204 11,899 12,901 11,746 9,057 1,074 49,881 June 3,369 11,052 11,336 10,016 8,430 8,430 52,633 July 4,305 10,132 10,368 9,057 6,320 1,121 41,303 August 3,946 7,646 9,075 6,499 4,862 1,275 33,303 September 1,893 5,282 6,101 4,893 4,165 464 22,798 October 2,275 5,245 5,441 4,593 3,717 1,326 22,597 November 2,434 4,354 6,461 5,214 3,655 1,678 23,796 December 1,813 3,026 3,695 2,756 1,987 1,146 14,423 Total 32,961 93,045 104,651 92,558 67,229 21,909 412,353 1996 January 2,714 8,548 1,214 9,580 6,457 1,699 30,212 February 2,560 7,391 17,377 9,096 6,066 2,060 44,550 March 3,204 9,331 11,442 10,638 6,809 1,920 43,344 April 2,273 8,366 9,382 9,485 5,591 2,075 37,172 May 3,848 12,034 14,568 13,440 10,118 3,194 57,202 June 3,554 10,555 12,676 11,313 8,671 2,730 49,499 July 4,676 10,162 10,418 9,809 6,809 1,784 43,658 August 3,554 7,637 8,974 6,444 4,560 1,474 32,643 September 1,711 5,157 5,451 5,479 4,136 1,025 22,959 October 2,415 4,683 5,803 4,457 2,907 792 21,057 November 2,531 4,764 7,108 4,506 4,164 1,358 24,431 December 1,708 2,829 4,021 2,589 1,764 654 13,565 Total 34,748 91,457 108,434 96,836 68,052 20,765 420,292 1 Includes up to 20 June 1999 Note:
These figures do not take account of applications for children to be included in an adult passport, a facility that was available until 5 October 1998.