5 The Impact of the Proposed Closure
on Customers
43. We considered the potential implications of the
closure for services provided by the Identity and Passport Service.
The Newport Passport Office deals with 47,000 passport applications
annually—around 10% of the national total.[53]
The Minister sought to assure us that the proposed restructuring
would not lead to a drop in the services available to the public:
The proposed restructuring would remove back office
processing of postal applications from the Newport office and
merge the public counter service with the local interview office
to form a new customer service centre […] There will be no
impact on customers in Wales or south-west England. The new office
in Newport will provide all face-to-face services required by
IPS customers, including urgent same-day applications, assistance
with queries and interviews.[54]
44. In contrast, PCS argued that the closure of the
Newport Office would have a detrimental effect on the service
provided by the IPS:
It seems unlikely […] that an office containing
only 35 people would be able to deal with the volumes of same-day
applications currently dealt with by the Newport Office, which
has a counter, a back office to process applications, as well
as an Examiner Quality Assurance team and a Fraud Investigation
Unit and a printing facility to print passports.[55]
45. In particular, witnesses argued that the loss
of staff from the Newport Office represented a significant loss
of specialised expertise to the Identity and Passport Service.
PCS claimed that "Newport has [...] been a path-breaking
office, used by the agency to trial various new systems and working
practises".[56]
Newport City Council agreed that the:
Newport Passport Office has always been best in class.
A former passport minister, Meg Hillier, praised the Newport office
staff for their excellent work, their 'can-do' attitude and their
exceptional customer care. Newport was the regional office that
always volunteered to do any innovative pilot, including the fast
track system, which has now been rolled out across the United
Kingdom. The exemplary knowledge, expertise and innovation shown
by Newport staff—both in customer service and application
processing—stood out in the IPS by common assent.[57]
46. The
Newport Passport Office has a reputation for excellent customer
care. The closure of the Newport Passport Application Processing
Centre would result in the loss to the service of skilled people
with significant experience. We are very concerned that a smaller
office in Newport might lead to the deterioration of services
for the people of Wales and the South West of England. The Government
must guarantee that the same high level of service will continue
to be provided by the Identity and Passport Service and set out
its plans to ensure this is met.
Welsh language service provision
47. The Welsh Language Act (1993) states that:
Every public body […] shall prepare a scheme
specifying the measures which it proposes to take, for the purpose
[…] of giving effect, so far as is both appropriate in the
circumstances and reasonably practicable, to the principle that
in the conduct of pubic business and the administration of justice
in Wales the English and Welsh languages should be treated on
a basis of equality.[58]
48. The Welsh Language Board highlighted that the
IPS currently cannot provide some online services through the
medium of Welsh, such as passport renewals, and these must therefore
be submitted as paper applications.[59]
All Welsh language applications for a passport are currently processed
at the Newport passport application processing centre.[60]
49. In written evidence to the Committee, PCS expressed
concerns about the current standard of "provision of a face-to-face
Welsh language service [which] is already barely adequate and
non-existent on Saturdays".[61]
This can only heighten our concern for Welsh language provision
in the future.
50. The Welsh Language Board expressed concern that
removing the 'back-office' would affect the IPS's ability to comply
with the Welsh Language Act.[62]
Newport City Council agreed, stating that:
… Welsh speaking customers' interests could
be endangered with the rapid downsizing or closure of the Newport
passport office, jeopardising the capacity and the quality of
the service they receive in their own language …[63]
The Welsh Assembly Government also expressed concern
about Welsh-language provision, stating that the proposal raised
questions about the UK Government's commitment to the quality
of service to the bilingual population of Wales, with "implications
for one of the most distinctive signifiers of national culture
and identity across the UK, the living Welsh language".[64]
51. The Minister stated that Welsh language service
would "not disappear from Newport":[65]
… one of the reasons why we are keeping the
Newport customer-facing office open is so that we retain the capacity
that is already there to deal with applications in Wales. Straightforwardly,
that will not change.[66]
Sarah Rapson confirmed that, following changes to
the IPS structure in Newport, where the IPS received an application
in Welsh, it would be processed in the Newport Office "where
we will have the Welsh speakers".[67]
52. We welcome
the Government's commitment to continue providing Welsh language
provision in Newport. However, we are concerned that the closure
of the Newport Passport Application Processing Centre would mean
that, in the first instance, all applications from Wales, including
those completed in the Welsh language, would be sent to a processing
centre outside Wales. There would then inevitably be a delay as
the Welsh language passport forms were returned to the Newport
customer office for processing. We are concerned that there may
be a deterioration in services for Welsh speakers.
Interview Office Network
53. Although this was not the focus of our inquiry,
we received evidence on proposed changes to the Interview Office
Network (ION) in Wales. There are 56 local interview offices throughout
the country, which were set up in 2007 to provide a network of
offices to interview all first-time applicants for passports.
On 18 October, it was confirmed that offices in Aberystwyth, Swansea
and Wrexham would close by September 2011 and would be replaced
by a mobile interview service. As previously mentioned, under
one plan, the local passport interview office in Newport would
be combined with the customer services counter to provide a same
day passport service and interviewing facilities.
54. We are concerned
that the closures of offices in the Interview Office Network will
result in customers in Wales having to travel unreasonable distances
for passport services and that specialist local knowledge, useful
in detecting passport related fraud, will be lost.
53 Ev 17 Back
54
Q 62 Back
55
Ev 17 Back
56
Ibid. Back
57
Ev 34 Back
58
Welsh Language Act 1993, section 5 Back
59
Ev 42 Back
60
Q 13 Back
61
Ev 46 Back
62
Ev 42 Back
63
Ev 34 Back
64
Ev 39 Back
65
Q 96 Back
66
Q 95 Back
67
Q 100 Back
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