MPS TO QUIZ PASSPORT OFFICE HEAD
The head of the Passport Office will appear before a Westminster committee today to be questioned over continued delays in the processing of passport applications.
Paul Pugh, chief executive of HM Passport Office, will face a grilling from members of the Home Affairs Select Committee and give an update on the backlog.
Home Secretary Theresa May apologised last month when it emerged the Passport Office was struggling to deal with the highest demand in 12 years.
Yesterday shadow immigration minister David Hanson claimed to have obtained figures showing nearly 45,000 more passports were classed as a "work in progress" by the Passport Office two weeks after emergency measures were introduced to deal with the backlog.
Last month Mr Pugh told the committee: "I absolutely recognise the anger and distress that some people have suffered and I would like to put on record that yes, in every case where we haven't met our service standards, where we haven't been able to meet the customer's needs, yes, certainly, we are sorry for that."
Immigration minister James Brokenshire yesterday said the Passport Office was handling an exceptional period of demand, with four million applications already in 2014.
"Yes there are pressures there but the Passport Office is responding to that challenge," he told the Commons during Home Office Questions.
