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Stonehenge
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to reimburse from central Government the cost to Wiltshire local taxpayers of policing and protecting the Stonehenge World Heritage Area; and if he will make a statement. [88092]
Mr. Boateng: Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, the budget of Wiltshire Police Authority will increase this year by 3.4 per cent. to £68.9 million, which is above the national average increase of 3.1 per cent. Around 80 per cent. of the police authority's spending comes from central Government.
The Government congratulate Wiltshire Constabulary on their handling of the disorder at Stonehenge on 21 June. Police forces can from time to time face particular demands on their resources. We would normally expect forces to meet any additional costs from within their existing budgets, or from contingency reserves.
Passports
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the time-scale for processing
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passport applications at the Peterborough Passport Office received (a) by post and (b) by special arrangement with Post Office Counters. [88166]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The processing time for passport applications received by the Peterborough Passport Office by post is 33 days and for applications received via Post Office Counters is seven days.
The Passport Agency is currently prioritising applications by customers' declared travel dates, and the processing time for postal work at the Peterborough Passport is for non-urgent applications.
Applications received via Post Office Counters are easier to process, and generally have more urgent travel dates. Non-urgent applications received by partners would not be given priority over urgent postal applications.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements the UK Passport Agency has made with Post Office Counters for fast-tracking the processing of passport applications. [88164]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
In view of its current operational problems, the Agency has changed the arrangement with Post Office Counters Ltd., and the Liverpool Office is now dealing with applications from them in 20 working days, and from its five other passport offices in 15 working days.
Due to its current backlog of work, the Agency is prioritising all applications by travel dates and there are delays in some offices in processing non-urgent work received from the Post Office.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of telephone calls from members of the public to each of the Passport Agency's offices which were left unanswered in each of the last 12 months. [88506]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The information on the number of calls receiving a courtesy message during the last 12 months is shown in the table. This record represents the nearest equivalent to the number of calls left unanswered. These figures include repeat calls. The Passport Agency cannot at present determine the proportion of repeat calls. These figures are collated centrally and cannot be broken down to an estimate for each office in any accurate way.
| Month | Total |
|---|---|
| 1998 | |
| June | 288,000 |
| July | 308,000 |
| August | 131,000 |
| September | 100,000 |
| October | 90,000 |
| November | 80,000 |
| December | 95,000 |
| 1999 | |
| January | 118,000 |
| February | 210,000 |
| March | 452,000 |
| April | 460,000 |
| May | 1,110,000 |
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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the public the Passport Agency has agreed to pay (a) compensation and (b) ex-gratia payments to during the last 12 months; and what is the total sum of money involved. [88513]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Passport Agency's compensation policy is to reimburse the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by customers as a direct consequence of clear operational errors, or failure to provide an acceptable level of service by means of an ex-gratia payment.
| Month | Number of complaints where compensation paid | Total compensation paid (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ||
| June | 160 | 5,256 |
| July | 266 | 7,460 |
| August | 244 | 6,079 |
| September | 188 | 7,234 |
| October | 194 | 7,453 |
| November | 180 | 8,127 |
| December | 179 | 7,166 |
| 1999 | ||
| January | 181 | 5,785 |
| February | 196 | 7,955 |
| March | 245 | 5,453 |
| April | 256 | 7,748 |
| May | 219 | 7,551 |
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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) new passports and (b) renewed passports the Passport Agency has received in each month since January 1996. [88783]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested on the numbers of applications for new and renewal passports is set out as follows:
| Month | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 251,416 | 188,230 | 190,490 | 152,392 |
| February | 248,914 | 207,815 | 250,487 | 217,924 |
| March | 277,060 | 233,848 | 238,029 | 326,094 |
| April | 256,504 | 216,327 | 192,314 | 304,653 |
| May | 382,388 | 283,733 | 268,357 | 306,083 |
| June | 330,684 | 267,757 | 244,900 | -- |
| July | 307,225 | 248,624 | 233,388 | -- |
| August | 276,812 | 234,103 | 230,835 | -- |
| September | 162,861 | 140,485 | 198,630 | -- |
| October | 141,095 | 126,325 | 124,095 | -- |
| November | 149,160 | 126,034 | 162,103 | -- |
| December | 72,121 | 67,947 | 95,493 | -- |
| Total | 2,856,240 | 2,341,128 | 2,429,121 | 111,307,146 |
| Month | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 200,740 | 182,316 | 167,118 | 133,694 |
| February | 167,357 | 176,278 | 202,910 | 176,531 |
| March | 178,702 | 180,609 | 176,988 | 225,903 |
| April | 166,004 | 157,767 | 167,118 | 198,302 |
| May | 211,634 | 189,558 | 202,910 | 201,010 |
| June | 172,632 | 166,749 | 176,988 | -- |
| July | 164,136 | 156,418 | 168,073 | -- |
| August | 163,782 | 165,872 | 179,665 | -- |
| September | 167,538 | 111,095 | 109,214 | -- |
| October | 102,799 | 108,695 | 96,898 | -- |
| November | 124,729 | 116,654 | 131,618 | -- |
| December | 58,565 | 61,819 | 67,570 | -- |
| Total | 1,878,609 | 1,773,830 | 1,847,070 | 935,440 |
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in respect of each office of the Passport Agency the number of unprocessed passport applications which were outstanding at the end of each month from January 1996 to date. [88511]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The information requested on the numbers of unprocessed passport applications outstanding at the end of each month from January 1996 is set out in the table.
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Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, in each month from January 1994 to date and in respect of each of the Passport Agency's six offices, was the time taken to process (a) new applications and (b) renewal applications; and if he will make a statement. [88627]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The table shows the average maximum times taken at each of the Passport Agency's offices to process all straightforward, properly completed applications in each month from January 1994. The Passport Agency does not collate this information separately for new and renewal applications and the figures represent the maximum turnaround times for all applications:
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The Passport Agency has, for a number of years, had a very good record of delivering services. The average annual maximum processing time on straightforward properly completed applications has been under 10 working days in each of the financial years from 1994-95 to 1997-98.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the revenue which the Passport Agency will forgo in the current financial year as a result of the extension of the period of passport validity free of charge. [88510]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Passport Agency's estimate of the income forgone as a result of the use of two year exceptional extensions to clear quickly, straightforward
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renewal applications is £1.08 million, based on an average fee of £18. The income will be recouped in two years.
The cost of processing an exceptional extension is much less than a full 10-year passport. Hence, in terms of matching income and expenditure the loss is much less than £18.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average period of time for determining passport applications in each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each month from January 1996 to date. [88515]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The information requested is shown in the table.
(36) Up to week ending 20 June 1999
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Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed currently (a) in total and (b) broken down by grade at each of the Passport Agency's offices. [88802]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The total number of staff currently employed in the Passport Agency is 1,828. The breakdown by grade is shown in the table:
| Grade | Number |
|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 2 |
| Grade 6 | 2 |
| Grade 7 | 11 |
| Senior Executive Officer | 18 |
| Higher Executive Officer | 65 |
| Executive Officer | 194 |
| Administrative Officer | 870 |
| Administrative Assistant | 666 |
| Total | 1,828 |
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Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) telephone and (b) written inquiries have been received in each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each of the last 12 months. [88621]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Passport Agency's published telephone inquiry number is a single non-geographical number (0870 5210410). The inquiry service is fronted by an automated menu system which, depending on the option selected, then routes calls to either an appropriate
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recorded message (for general inquiries) or an operator (for specific inquiries).
An element of the calls are, therefore, answered centrally by recorded messages, whilst the remainder are transferred to the local office to be answered by an operator. If all lines to the local office are busy, customers receive a courtesy message for that office. To provide the full picture, the number of calls answered centrally by recorded and courtesy messages has also been included.
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| Month | Recorded/ courtesy messages | Belfast | Glasgow | London | Liverpool | Newport | Peterborough |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | 516,045 | 13,521 | 25,918 | 22,512 | 37,624 | 46,013 | 21,596 |
| July 1998 | 563,559 | 11,196 | 24,457 | 15,305 | 36,151 | 41,376 | 25,153 |
| August 1998 | 279,214 | 9,047 | 26,776 | 15,168 | (37)-- | 34,086 | 23,936 |
| September 1998 | 202,702 | 8,744 | 26,724 | 26,805 | (37)-- | (37)-- | 25,592 |
| October 1998 | 291,458 | 10,764 | 23,576 | 30,123 | 13,569 | (37)-- | (37)-- |
| November 1998 | 131,726 | 7,366 | 23,348 | 31,195 | 20,129 | 26,481 | 15,103 |
| December 1998 | 192,176 | 1,412 | 17,292 | 20,712 | 17,969 | 22,465 | 16,796 |
| January 1999 | 332,296 | 875 | 21,984 | 26,725 | 21,445 | 32,911 | 25,566 |
| February 1999 | 370,537 | 4,152 | 20,878 | 23,691 | 17,421 | 35,479 | 27,982 |
| March 1999 | 668,287 | 4,876 | 25,914 | 38,020 | 15,060 | 30,148 | 29,470 |
| April 1999 | 669,048 | 9,249 | 19,822 | 15,324 | 10,914 | 25,695 | 20,036 |
| May 1999 | 1,388,522 | 9,175 | 16,706 | 17,053 | 6,893 | 26,240 | 12,988 |
(37) Management information not available due to refurbishment work.
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Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications in each month since January 1996 have been endorsed with a two year extension; and if he will make a statement. [88505]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Passport Agency currently has backlogs and in order to clear quickly straightforward renewal applications, certain existing passports are being extended provided certain criteria are fulfilled.
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The number of extensions that have been made are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| May 1999 | -18,918 |
| June 1999 (to date) | -19,178 |
| Total | 38,096 |
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The temporary extension of passports is a sensible easement to reduce queues and assist people to travel. Arrears of passport applications are double the amount last year and have been caused by an exceptional rise in applications since April, additional applications arising from the requirements for children to have separate passports and arrears which accrued following the introduction of a new issuing system which is being piloted in Liverpool and Newport. The criteria to be met before extensions are given are that the holders details remain unchanged, the passport has not expired more than five years previously, the passport is not damaged or altered, the passport is not subject to restrictions, and the applicant's appearance is clearly identifiable.
These extended passports are properly issued passports valid for travel and immigration authorities abroad have been made aware of the position. There is no relaxation in security and proper checks are made before the passports are extended. The measures are temporary and expected to cease by September when current backlogs are expected to be cleared.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the Passport Agency's business plan for 1999-2000. [88512]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Agency is working to a three year Corporate Plan. I expect to receive the Agency's Business Plan for 1999-2000 in the next few weeks, to take account of decisions on the full implementation of the new computerised issuing arrangements.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in providing telephone answering facilities at each of the Passport Agency's offices. [88507]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Agency is currently recruiting additional staff, some of whom could be allocated to the telephone inquiry bureau (TEB) at each local office. In the short term, this could help to improve the service by extending the use of existing telephone equipment.
The Agency has appointed consultants to review all technical and business options and make recommendations for improving the telephone inquiry service. This initiative takes forward an Agency's commitment to improve communications for members of the public. It will include modernising government initiatives and investigate the opportunity to automate progress inquiries using the new computer system.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children's applications for passports have been received at each of the Passport Agency's six offices in each month from January 1996 to date. [88514]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Information on the numbers of applications for passports for children under the age of 16 years is set out in the table:
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(38) Includes up to 20 June 1999
Note:
These figures do not take account of applications for children to be included in an adult passport, a facility that was available until 5 October 1998.
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