§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the last 12 months the average time a passport application took to be processed by the UK Passport Agency; and if he will make a statement. [98721]
§ Beverley HughesDuring the last 12 months the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) has delivered passports effectively and securely.
Despite higher than anticipated demand levels for part of the year, UKPS maintained fully satisfactory turnaround times for the delivery of passports. The breakdown of average passport turnaround times on a month by month basis from February 2002 until January 2003 is as follows.
823W
Month Days February 3.36 March 3.77 April 3.86 May 4.15 June 4.53 July 4.80 August 5.12 September 3.89 October 3.45 November 3.09 December 2.87 January 3.01 These figures are calculated from the date of the mailbag in which the application is received and ending on the date the passport is printed. In this operational year (April 2002 to March 2003), UKPS is processing 99.46 per cent. of all straight-forward properly completed applications within 10 days.