Holidaymakers must still allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer, says Suella Braverman

Holidaymakers will still need to allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer despite a dramatic improvement in Passport Office performance, the Home Secretary has warned.

Suella Braverman told MPs the 10-week deadline, introduced because of Covid, would have to remain because of continued “elevated” and “volatile” demand expected throughout the year.

It comes despite 97.2 per cent of all applications last week being completed within three weeks, compared to 75 per cent last year, and 99.5 per cent of all UK applications being done within the 10-week deadline.

She said: “We expect elevated demand for passports throughout the year – and demand can be volatile – so customers should continue to allow 10 weeks. I urge people to apply in good time and not at the last minute.

Made it ‘priority to fix problems’

Mrs Braverman admitted there had been serious concerns about the performance of the Passport Office last year, prompting an investigation by the home affairs committee.

However, she said that she had made it “a priority to fix” the problems since becoming Home Secretary. Staff numbers have increased by more than 1,200 since last April, and many staff have been trained to deal with a broader range of applications.

The number of people waiting more than 10 weeks for a passport application to be processed rose eightfold last year. More than 400,000 had to wait longer than 10 weeks despite the Post Office insisting processing times had returned to normal after the pandemic.

Last year’s backlog was caused by a surge in renewals as people rushed to renew their passports when Covid travel restrictions were lifted. The passport office received 1.2 million applications in May alone.

The huge increase in waiting times also coincided with a higher proportion of Passport Office staff working from home. As of December last year, 21 per cent of staff were working from home, Thomas Greig, the director of passports, citizenship and civil registration at the Passport Office, told MPs.

In December, Mr Greig told the public accounts committee the backlog of passports had been cleared and the waiting time had returned to the standard three-week target.