Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Accepted
The scope of the programme has increased significantly since it began and in 2021 it...
Recommendation
The scope of the programme has increased significantly since it began and in 2021 it was added to the Government Major Projects Portfolio. In August 2022, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) rated the programme Red, and recommended that the programme should not proceed to the next phase until HMPO had managed risks to an acceptable level. It made seven recommendations to HMPO, one of which was rated critical and four were rated as essential.38 We asked the Department what progress it had made in addressing the IPA’s recommendations. The Department told us that it had found the recommendations constructive, and that it was making progress on an action plan to address them, although this plan was not yet complete. The Department added that the IPA had recently revisited the transformation programme and had changed the project rating from Red to Amber. The Department said that it will continue to work on the IPA’s recommendations to change the transformation programme’s rating to Green.39 However, we challenged the Department and HMPO on whether the programme would be completed by 2025, given the Department’s performance on other digital projects, such as the Emergency Services Network.40
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to set out how it will better manage demand for passports in the future and what outcomes it will use to measure its performance; it describes workflow improvements, more robust customer service, further development to digital solutions, a staffing model to meet passport demand, and continued exploration of options to smooth demand across the full year.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6. PAC conclusion: We are disappointed by the Department and HMPO’s lack of ambition in their plans to meet demand for passports in 2023 and beyond. 6. PAC recommendation: The Department should set out, as part of its Treasury Minute response, how it will better manage demand for passports in future and what outcomes it will use to measure its performance. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 In response to the challenges experienced in early-2022, HM Passport Office has worked to deliver a number of improvements to that has delivered consistent high standards of service that its customers rightfully expect. 6.3 This includes improved workflow management information and analytics, which has delivered significantly improved oversight of work in progress, and better enabling the proactive management of its queues. Alongside this, HM Passport Office has acted to add greater resilience to its provision of customer contact services by appointing an additional supplier to handle approximately 25% of calls to the Passport Adviceline. 6.4 It has also continued to develop its digital solutions, approximately 89% of applications begin their processing through DAP, with 81% completed end-to-end. 6.5 In addition, HM Passport Office has developed an ambitious, flexible and responsive staffing model to meet passport demand, and to provide the best service possible to its customers. 6.6 As a result of these efforts, it has processed almost 4 million applications in 2023, with 99.5% within ten weeks and 93.5% within three weeks. 6.7 Approximately 5 million people delayed their passport application due to the restrictions upon international travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the exceptional cause of this latent demand, the profile of when this will arrive is less predictable than in a normal year. It is therefore appropriate to continue to advise people to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport, however the processing time guidance will be returned to pre- pandemic timeframes in due course. 6.8 The seasonality of passport demand does put greater pressure on passport services, and there remains significant value in exploring options to smooth this demand across the full year. 6.9 While HM Passport Office has not yet identified a viable incentive to bring forward demand into the autumn/winter that is both fair and in line with international standards, it will continue to explore ways to attempt to achieve this.