Press Release - The United Kingdom Passport Agency: The
Passport Delays of Summer 1999
27 October 1999
Delays in issuing passports earlier this year led to much
anxiety and inconvenience for members of the public hoping to
travel. By June, the Passport Agency had around 565,000
applications awaiting processing. Sir John Bourn, head of the
National Audit Office, reported to Parliament today on the delays
at the Agency during Summer 1999.
Several factors contributed to cause the problems. The initial
cause was the introduction from October 1998 of a new passport
processing system in two of the Agency’s six offices – Liverpool
and Newport. The new system was intended to replace an ageing
computer system and to produce a more secure passport. Siemens
Business Services is responsible for developing and providing the
new computer system and for undertaking the initial processing of
applications.
Sir John singles out:
- a failure to assess and test adequately the time needed by
staff to learn and work the new passport processing system, which
involved some changes in clerical and administrative processes as
well as computerisation;
- insufficient contingency planning in the event that
implementation of the new system might not go according to plan.
Extending the pilot from Liverpool to Newport before problems were
fully overcome compounded the problem; and
- a failure to communicate effectively with the public, both at a
personal level in dealing with calls from the public to its
telephone enquiry bureau, and more generally via the media.
The strategy adopted by the Agency in early 1999 to get through
the busy season rested on its past experience that it would be able
to increase output by increasing overtime and hiring casual staff.
A recovery plan was agreed between the Agency and the Home Office
in March, including the recruitment of extra staff. However, the
Agency did not foresee the loss in public confidence, which led to
a sharp increase in applications and enquiries about them, once the
delays attracted publicity. This was exacerbated by a higher volume
of applications for child passports than the Agency expected.
Whilst the Agency took action to make up for lost production in
Liverpool and Newport – in May monthly output was 619,000 compared
to a peak of 564,000 in the previous year - it was not able to make
up for the increase in applications. The Agency was too reliant on
using routine solutions, such as staff and managers working longer
and longer hours to cope.
On the cost of the problems:
Sir John estimates that the cost of the additional measures
taken by the Agency to deal with the failures during the year from
October 1998 will be around £12.6 million, including £6 million for
additional staffing.
Total compensation paid to members of the public for missed
travel and other expenses currently amounts to £161,000, but is
likely to rise further. Almost 500 travel dates were missed over
the period and many more people were inconvenienced. Whilst the
Agency’s performance over the Summer was at or around its target of
meeting 99.99 per cent of travel dates, the Home Office accepts
that this target did not reflect a meaningful standard of service
for the public.
The Agency has received compensation totalling £69,000 from its
contractors for shortfalls in performance. The Agency has waived
other compensation due from Siemens, estimated by the Agency to be
worth £275,000. Initially, the waivers had been granted by the
Agency to allow time for the new system to settle down. The Agency
is now discussing with Siemens how the costs of the crisis are to
be shared.
On the action taken to prevent the problems recurring:
The Agency now faces a decision whether and when to roll out the
system to its remaining offices. The new passport processing system
has yet to achieve its performance targets; but the Agency and
Siemens are now considering a range of measures to improve
productivity. Nonetheless, the Report records that the unit cost to
the taxpayer of producing a passport would rise, in the absence of
other changes, to £14 in the medium term, compared to £12 in the
Agency’s business case. These costs are recovered through the
passport fee, which also helps to recover the cost of some consular
services provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The Agency is also considering a number of additional measures
to improve its services to the public including, for example, an
expansion of its telephone enquiry service and passport issuing
service to cope with demand during peak periods. These additional
measures are likely to add over £3 to the cost of producing each
passport, bringing the unit cost to over £17 from 2000-01.
On the lessons to be learned:
Sir John commented "this case highlights a number of important
lessons which all departments and agencies delivering services to
the public will wish to consider". The Report identifies ten
points, in particular, including:
- a need for proper testing of new systems before committing to
live operation, in particular for staff to learn and work the
system;
- a need to have realistic contingency plans in place; and
- a need, when service delivery is threatened, to have the
capability to keep the public well informed.
Notes for Editors
- In June, processing times for passport applications were taking
up to 50 working days. Emergency measures were introduced by the
Home Office in July 1999 – including free two-year extensions to
passports. Coupled with a downturn in applications, these measures
helped bring maximum processing times back within the Agency’s 10
working day target by the end of August.
- The United Kingdom Passport Agency was established as an
Executive Agency of the Home Office in April 1991. Its main aim is
to provide passport services for British nationals in the United
Kingdom promptly and economically. In 1998-99, the Agency employed
an average of almost 1,800 staff in its passport offices in
Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport and Peterborough. The
Agency’s financial objective is to recover, via the passport fee,
the full cost of passport services; the full cost includes the cost
of non-fee bearing consular services provided by the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office to UK citizens abroad. In 1998-99 full costs
were £93.6 million, including expenditure by the Agency of £57.6
million, and the Agency’s income totalled £89.6 million, leading to
a shortfall of £4 million.
- The Committee of Public Accounts is expected to take evidence
on this report on Wednesday, 3 November 1999
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and
the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 60/99
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