To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the online passport application booking system in light of the current backlogs.
Answered on
16 May 2022
Appointments for urgent services are released three weeks in advance, with new appointments available on a daily basis.
These will be booked quickly in busy periods. While Her Majesty’s Passport Office has maximised the appointment capacity at its seven public counters, it continues to explore options to further increase appointment capacity to further support its customers with urgent travel needs.
Around 2 million passport applications were processed in March and April alone, with 98.6% of applications processed within the 10 week standalone time frame.