UK passport delays put a million trips at risk this summer

Many people who have not had a sunshine holiday in two years could be forced to postpone their trip

Home Office minister Kevin Foster said anyone heading overseas this summer - such as to Malaga in Spain - should submit passport applications as soon as possible. Reuters

Delays in passport processing could cost £1.1 billion in cancelled trips this summer and force a million sun-starved Britons to postpone their holiday, new research has shown.

With more than five million people delaying their applications during the Covid-19 pandemic, Britain’s Passport Office has been hit by a surge in applications ahead of the busy summer travel period.

MPs have raised the cases of constituents, some forced to wait months for a passport. The government has advised people to allow at least 10 weeks for a new passport to be processed.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) said it estimated a 50 per cent probability of a “successful and timely” passport renewal process for travellers based on current reports.

“Data from the VisitBritain Covid-19 Consumer Sentiment Tracker shows that more than two in five are planning an overseas trip in the coming 12 months,” it said.

“Assuming that passport holders are somewhat more likely to have travel plans than the population as a whole, and that a quarter of those will have made a booking, that leaves just under one million holidaymakers at risk due to the delays.”

The number of valid UK passports fell by more than 2.5 million during the first two calendar years of the coronavirus crisis as people delayed applications.

A total of 48.9 million passports were in circulation at the end of last year — 2.6 million fewer than at the end of 2019.

The figure marks an abrupt change from the period before the pandemic, which had seen passport numbers rise from 50 million in December 2017, to 51.5 million two years later.

The figures were obtained by the PA news agency from the Passport Office through a freedom of information request.

They show that an average of 559,000 UK passports were printed each month in 2019, but this dropped to 329,000 in 2020 and recovered only slightly to 402,000 in 2021.

Some 967,000 passports were printed across November and December last year, however.

Last week, MPs told the House of Commons the delays had caused stress for their constituents, some of whom were facing the prospect of having to cancel trips because they had no valid passport.

Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said two of her constituents “fear their honeymoon may now be wrecked because their passports haven’t arrived, even though they applied in plenty of time”.

“We’ve had cases of people cancelling jobs, parents trying to get holiday for a sick child waiting since January, huge long delays by the Passport Office and by the contractor TNT,” she added.

The Passport Office last month said demand for up-to-date documents was “at a [record] high” and that millions are planning overseas holidays due to the relaxing of travel restrictions. Britain dropped its remaining curbs in March and many other European countries have in recent weeks relaxed measures.

Home Office minister Kevin Foster said anyone heading overseas this summer should submit passport applications as soon as possible.

He added the government is “confident” it will not need to extend the 10-week target for processing requests.

A senior government source last week suggested Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ready to privatise the Passport Office.