PASSPORT DELAYS AND COSTS

That this House condemns as unacceptable the policy of Her Majesty's Passport Office in requiring a person who has experienced significant delays processing their passports to pay an additional £73 to have the process expedited; notes that hon. Members and their caring staff in recent weeks have listened to tears and complete utter panic from many families who reasonably booked trips ahead of time, often scheduled 10 to 12 weeks after applying for a passport (having read the website estimating processing times of up to 6 weeks); notes these applicants are all now held to ransom and forced to pay £73 a passport for HMPO to escalate the process; notes the escalation can only happen within 14 days of travel and people are grappling to manage all the new rules retrospectively applied; and calls on ministers to drop the £73 and to escalate automatically every application when notified travel is within four weeks.