Cameron calls in extra staff over passport delays

The Prime Minister insisted that hundreds of extra staff have been drafted in and new offices are being opened in Liverpool next week to help tackle the backlog.

Ed Miliband called on the premier to 'get a grip' as he warned that thousands of people face cancelled holidays as a result of the problems.

But Mr Cameron accused the Labour leader of trying to 'frighten people'. He said: "We have 300,000 extra applications than is normal at this time of year. We have increased massively the staff. The level of applications outside the normal three-week limit is less than 10 per cent of that 300,000."

But Mr Miliband said thousands of families feared being unable to go on holiday unless they were prepared to fork out another £55 to have their application fast-tracked.

The row in the Commons came after the Home Secretary Theresa May today said more staff and resources would be put in place to deal with the backlog. Coseley mother Donna Gibbons said she and her family had applied for passports in April and were still waiting for two of them, putting in jeopardy a planned holiday to Spain this week.

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said: "There are always one or two delays but I have definitely had more requests for help from constituents in recent weeks. It is important that the Government gets a grip of this as soon as possible with the summer holidays approaching."

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said the Passport Office is in 'crisis'. The union claims the loss of 300 jobs and the closure of 20 offices are behind the delays.

Mrs May said the problem was caused by a 'very, very high' level of applications at the beginning of 2014, and acknowledged that families will be concerned about getting their passports back in time for their holidays.

She said: "We will continue to look at this issue and the Passport Office will put more staff in place and resources in place to ensure they can deal with these applications."

Her pledge came as a Black Country family revealed they feared they could lose out on their holiday after a delay in getting their passports.

Donna Gibbons and her family are due to be flying to Salou in Spain on Friday for a two-week trip.

But both the holiday and the £1,700 they spent on it are in jeopardy as Donna and two-year-old son Jack Evans, from Coseley, are still waiting on their passports – despite applying in April.

They have spent £1,700 on the holiday and are due to be going away with the rest of the family, including Donna's partner Lee, four-year-old daughter Mollie, and Donna's parents Christine and Rowland.

Now the family are desperately trying to have the passports sent through before it's too late, and have even spoken to their MP who contacted the Passport Office on their behalf.

Full-time mum Donna said: "Everyone else has got their passports, it's just me and my son that don't have them.

"I needed to renew mine and Jack needed his first, and we were told the maximum we would need would be three weeks, but now it's been more than six weeks.

"I have been phoning the Passport Office since last Saturday, and every time I speak to them someone told me they would call me back. Not one person has phoned me back.

"The amount of money that I've wasted on phone calls and credit on mobile phones, and not one person has had the courtesy to phone me back. It's frustrating."

Earlier, the Passport Office had claimed there was 'no backlog' in applications.

Paul Pugh, chief executive of the Passport Office, said more than 97 per cent of straightforward applications were being processed within the target turnaround time of three weeks, with 99 per cent processed within a month.