Casework for a Member of Parliament is a constant stream of emails, letters and phone calls from constituents wishing to bring concerns about policy issues, personal problems, and comments about local issues to my attention.
I deal with all cases which affect individual constituents on a case by case basis, by writing to Ministers, Councils, local health authorities, schools and utility companies to bring their attention to the issues of greatest concern to my constituents.
Since the Covid19 pandemic, the source of frustration to a large number of constituents has been the time it was taking to get a UK passport renewed. This was largely due to the global impacts of COVID-19 causing passport demand to be elevated to record levels, with the volume of applications in 2023 likely to exceed that of any year prior to the pandemic.
I managed to make sure everyone who contacted me, bar one, got their new passport in time to get away on their holidays, work trips or family visits, but it was a frustrating time for me, my staff and all those who needed to renew their passports.
The Home Secretary has now confirmed His Majesty’s Passport Office will be updating its processing time guidance, to advise that where no further information is required customers can again expect to receive their passport within three weeks.
The pandemic surge provided richer data to enable improved forecasting of passport demand, and the Home Office’s decision to use its staff flexibly has provided long term confidence that the change to the guidance will ensure that customers continue to allow good time to get their passport.
Some passports may still take longer than this basic guideline, due to the necessary work to prevent and detect passport fraud, but I am assured that where no further information is needed from the customer, more than 98% of applications are being processed within three weeks.
As always, please do check your passport is in date before travelling, so if you have an exciting holiday planned for next summer, now is a good time to make sure your passport is up to date and you are ready to travel.
