HC Deb 14 May 1999 vol 331 cc230-3W
Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in each of the last three years(a) in total and (b) broken down by grade were employed in each office of the UK Passport Agency. [83917]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The table shows the average staffing in each office of the UK Passport Agency for the last three years, in total and broken down by grade.

Total London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast HQ
Personal Secretary 8 0 1 0 1 2 0 4
Typing Manager 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Typist 16 2 3 5 1 2 2 1
Support Grade Band 1 16 6 2 4 1 2 0 1
Support Grade Band 2 71 12 18 18 12 9 2 0
Total 1,686 185 405 357 331 235 100 73

Total London Liverpool Peterborough Newport Glasgow Belfast Hayes HQ
1996–97
Grade 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Grade 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Grade 7 11 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 6
Senior Executive Officer 16 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 9
Higher Executive Officer 59 6 5 8 7 7 3 1 22
Executive Officer 200 32 42 30 38 28 12 3 15
Administrative Officer 747 93 147 173 149 123 43 7 12
R Examining 86 5 19 26 24 12 0 0 0
Administrative Assistant 633 40 129 112 164 123 34 26 5
Personal Secretary 9 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 4
Typing Manager 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Typist 18 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 1
Support Manager 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Support Grade Band 1 17 6 2 4 2 2 0 1 0
Support Grade Band 2 73 3 19 21 13 9 2 6 0
Total 1,874 192 371 379 402 311 97 46 76

Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the UK Passport Agency performed against its targets in 1998–99; and what are the targets set for the Agency in 1999–2000. [83908]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The UK Passport Agency's targets for 1998–99 and its performance against these targets were as follows:

Target To process properly completed straightforward applications within a maximum of 15 working days in April, and 10 working days for the remainder of the year.

Performance

  • April: 15
  • May: 18
  • June: 26
  • July: 23
  • August: 22
  • September: 15
  • October: 18
  • November: 17
  • December: 25
  • January: 27
  • February: 26
  • March: 34.

Target In seeking to meet this target, the Agency will give priority to customers' travel needs, aiming to meet declared travel dates for at least 99.99 per cent. of passports issued.

Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last three years for which figures are available the UK Passport Agency has not met the declared travel dates for issue of passports; and what is its current target for meeting declared travel dates. [83907]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

Figures are available only from 1998–99 when the UK Passport Agency's standard of service target first included meeting customers declared travel dates. Available information indicates that there were 95 cases in 1998–99 where the UK Passport Agency has been made aware that declared travel dates were not met.

The Agency's current target for meeting declared travel dates is to meet those dates for at least 99.99 per cent. of passports issued. This target was achieved in 1998–99.

Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many restricted validity passports have been issued by the UK Passport Agency in each month for each of the last three years. [83918]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The information requested on restricted validity passport issues is shown in the table.

Restricted validity passport issues
1996 1997 1998
January 1,404 2,231 2,228
February 1,359 2,365 2,191
March 3,397 2,834 3,011
April 3,522 2,840 3,017
May 4,124 3,729 3,111
June 4,287 4,206 4,740
July 5,720 5,330 4,692
August 5,451 5,002 3,825
September 4,061 3,608 3,206
October 3,629 3,395 3,032
November 2,606 2,371 2,270
December 2,674 2,815 2,690
Total 42,234 40,726 37,513