This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28194482

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Passport boss facing fresh questions from MPs Passport boss Paul Pugh denies 'chaos' claims
(about 1 hour later)
The head of the Passport Office is facing fresh questions from an MPs' committee later about continuing delays in the handling of applications. The number of passports being issued is increasing as staff attempt to clear a large backlog, the home affairs committee has been told.
Paul Pugh apologised last month for the distress caused to people after a surge in renewal requests led to a backlog. Passport Office chief executive Paul Pugh said 170,000 passports had been issued in the past week, a slight increase on the previous seven days.
The Home Office has ordered a series of emergency measures, including giving UK citizens living overseas an automatic one-year extension to their passports. But he admitted the number of passport applications in the system had gone up.
But MPs have warned that the situation seems to be getting worse not better. He denied claims by a passport worker, to BBC Radio 4's PM, that the office was in "total crisis".
Ministers have apologised for the delays, saying applications are at a 12-year high, but unions have blamed the backlogs on staff cuts over the past four years. Mr Pugh apologised last month for the distress caused by the backlog, which he said had been caused by an unexpected surge in demand for passports.
A Passport Office employee has told the BBC the emergency measures present a "huge security risk", but the Home Office said her allegations were "false". Fast-track service
Appearing before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee last month, Mr Pugh said he had anticipated an increase in the agency's workload after it took over responsibility from the Foreign Office for applications from British citizens living abroad. He was hauled back in front of the committee earlier on Tuesday, to be quizzed on what progress had been made in clearing the backlog, amid claims by MPs that it was getting worse.
But the Passport Office chief executive said that could not explain the scale of the demand for passport renewals this year, with nearly 400,000 more applications in the first five months of 2014 than during the corresponding period the previous year. He told the MPs: "Work in progress is falling and output is rising substantially.
The most recent figures seen by the BBC showed that the number of applications categorised as "work in progress" rose to about 537,000 on 22 June from 483,000 at the start of last month. "We are now issuing over 170,000 passports each week. I expect that to continue and rise over the summer. For each week over the summer I expect us to be issuing in the region of 180,000 passports per week."
'Emergency action' When pressed by committee chairman Keith Vaz, he conceded that applications classed as "work in progress" had gone up since his last appearance from 483,000 at the start of June to 508,000 last week, but he stressed that this figure was now falling.
At the same time, the total number of passports issued went down by almost 15,000 while the number of standard applications being dealt with within the target of three weeks dropped from 77% to 61%. Home Secretary Theresa May has ordered a series of emergency measures, including giving UK citizens living overseas an automatic one-year extension to their passports.
Data released by the Passport Office on 20 June suggested it was having to deal with a backlog of 53,000 applications - higher than previously thought. People with an "urgent need" to travel can also upgrade to the fast-track service for free for a limited period.
Among a series of steps taken to try to speed up the application process, people with an "urgent need" to travel were able to upgrade to the fast-track service for free for a limited period. 'Total mess'
At the home affairs ommittee's initial hearing on 17 June, its chairman Keith Vaz said Mr Pugh would be recalled if the situation did not improve. But an employee at the Passport Office, speaking anonymously to PM on Monday, said the emergency measures were "making things 10 times worse" and presented a "huge security risk".
Speaking on Monday, the Labour MP said: "When Mr Pugh came before the committee last time he promised that the emergency action taken by the home secretary and the additional steps he was implementing would reduce the backlog. The whistleblower estimated about 100,000 passports did not appear in the official figures because they had not yet been scanned on to the system.
"The opposite has happened and it would appear the amount of applications has actually increased whilst the number of passports being issued has gone down. The committee will be interested to hear why this has occurred and what further steps will be taken to rectify it." She claimed the agency was "in total crisis, a total mess".
People were being taken off their usual jobs and issuing passports with "a few days' training", presenting security risks because they might not be able to spot a fraudulent application and computers were crashing for up to half a day at a time.
Mr Pugh hit back at the criticisms, telling the committee: "I completely disagree with the comments that are attributed to this anonymous member of staff."
He added: "I think the vast majority of staff across the organisation would refute what that member of staff is saying. The organisation is not in chaos."
He admitted that the "freakishly high" levels of overtime being carried out by staff to deal with the backlog could not continue, but he said extra staff were being recruited.
He again admitted he did not know why there had been a sudden surge in demand for passport renewals, rejecting claims by Mr Vaz that it was down to the closure of seven overseas passports centres and the transfer of the work to the UK.
He also rejected claims by some MPs that it was down to an upturn in the economy, saying there was "no evidence" for this, although, he added, the agency no longer took economic factors into account when forecasting demand.
The Home Office's chief scientific adviser had launched an inquiry into why the Passport Office's forecasting system had failed to predict the surge in applications, Mr Pugh told the committee.
Mr Pugh also admitted the increase in demand would lead to a boost in income from fees for his office and it was expected to make a surplus of £50m this year - the same as it had in 2013 - that would be handed to the Treasury.
Mr Vaz handed Mr Pugh 180 emails from members of the public who were facing delays in their applications for his private office to deal with.
The Home Office has said it is not unusual during peak periods for the Passport Office to operate with high numbers of applications in the system at any one time and insisted it was getting to grips with the problems.The Home Office has said it is not unusual during peak periods for the Passport Office to operate with high numbers of applications in the system at any one time and insisted it was getting to grips with the problems.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, a whistleblower from the Passport Office estimated about 100,000 passports did not appear in the official figures because they had not yet been scanned on to the system.
The agency was in "total crisis", she said, adding that the emergency measures were "making things 10 times worse".
People were being taken off their usual jobs and issuing passports with "a few days' training", she said, presenting security risks because they might not be able to spot a fraudulent application.
She also said computers were crashing for up to half a day at a time.
Rejecting her claims, the Home Office said: "We receive thousands of applications every week with their numbers constantly changing. We aim to log all applications within 48 hours of receipt at which point they become active work in progress.
"All staff examining passport applications receive appropriate training, including on policies and processes to identify suspected fraud. This is supported by supervision and stringent quality checks to prevent fraudulent passports being issued."