The Passport Office has been criticised by MPs for letting down hundreds of thousands of applicants through “unacceptable” delays.
The government agency was accused of lacking ambition to perform better in a damning report by the Commons public accounts committee.
MPs on the committee also cast doubt about digital transformation of the Passport Office, which may have knock-on effect for years.
Despite planning for a surge in applications when the last of the UK’s Covid-19 travel restrictions were lifted last year “its performance let down hundreds of thousands of customers who faced unacceptable delays in receiving their passports”.
The report added: “The consequences of these delays included people being unable to travel for family emergencies, losing money spent on holidays and having difficulties proving their identities.
“HMPO [His Majesty’s Passport Office] has shown a concerning lack of curiosity about the consequences of these delays for its customers and has not put the customer’s perspective at the centre of its decision-making.
“Weak performance by contractors and poor management information exacerbated the problems, as well and the confusion and frustration of customers.”
The Passport Office estimates that less than half of the ‘missing’ demand for passports from the pandemic materialised in 2022 and is planning for another surge in applications this year.
But the committee said it will need to “successfully implement its delayed digital transformation programme to perform better – which raises red flags – and be bolder in trying to manage demand rather than just reacting to it”.
Scottish National Party MP Peter Grant, who led the inquiry, said: “The level of service our constituents received from the Passport Office last spring and summer was simply unacceptable.
“Passport Office staff did the best they could but they were fighting a losing battle against antiquated processes and poor planning.
“These failings resulted in misery for 360,000 people whose passports experienced severe delays.
“It’s astonishing that even today the Passport Office hasn’t attempted to find out how many of these people had to cancel holidays or were unable to travel for family weddings or other big occasions.
“This has given the committee real concern as to whether the Passport Office really understands how much it needs to improve if the public are to get the level of service they’re entitled to expect.”
Committee member Nick Smith, Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent, said: “Despite efforts to prepare for the predicted surge in passport applications, many people were let down. Family holidays and important trips were thrown into jeopardy with many forced to fork out fees to ensure their passports arrived on time.
“It became the number one casework issue in my office, crowding out other important work as staff strove to help with multiple urgent cases every day.
“It is disappointing that HMPO’s decision making failed to focus on the customers’ experience during this frustrating time, and I’m concerned that a failure to upgrade their clunky system may result in similar scenes this year.”