Reply With Quote^^^ ref #50 ...
Passport Office workers praised for their efforts ... by MP who has actually visited the Passport Office ... & is not relying on hearsay
https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/...ambles-3672046
Ex girlfriends application took 4 months!!!
The amazingly approved the processing on the day she called to get through to someone, after send lots of emails and getting what appeared to be basic/automated stalling responses.
Finally arrived in late March by courier, after being submitted November.
There’s definitely a problem.
It's just a matter of time...
^^^ ref #50 ...
Passport Office workers praised for their efforts ... by MP who has actually visited the Passport Office ... & is not relying on hearsay
https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/...ambles-3672046
Last edited by sundial; 28th April 2022 at 22:26.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Exactly the same issue happened to a pal. Was supposed to be going skiing , passport office lost the birth certificate and in the end, the husband stayed at home with the child whilst the other child and wife went.Originally Posted by kevkojak
Their passport still hasn’t turned up and they lost a lot of money
Did they phone 0300 222 0000 as per https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...ints-procedure ... compensation can be claimed
"Compensation
We realise that sometimes our mistakes may cause you expense or financial loss. In these cases, you should follow the instructions in step 1 and write us a letter. You should send any documents that prove your claim with the letter. We only normally offer compensation for financial loss which has occurred as a direct consequence of an error made by the General Register Office."
Last edited by sundial; 28th April 2022 at 22:32.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I'll just add, this isn't my first bad experience with them. In October 2020 I was supposed to go to benidorm on a "lads" weekend for a friend's 40th. Applied for my new passport in May, by August it still hadn't arrived. When I chased it, TNT delivery hadn't been able to find my address (new build estate - half understandable) but neglected to tell me.
The passport office wouldn't issue another passport as they'd already printed and dispatched one. As a result, by October we were still arguing the case so I lost a couple of hundred quid there too.
(As it happened, new travel rules had just come into play with the mandatory 1 week isolation after travelling, so in the end nobody went... not the point though).
It took until June 2021 for them to actually deliver my passport. Over a year. I should really have taken that as a cue to sort the kids ones out nice and early (as if three months wasn't enough!) but passports are bloody expensive, there always seemed to be something more pressing.
Your 'contract' was with the Passport Office .. not TNT ... so Passport Office likely vicariously liable for TNT's alleged error ... in which case if you have proof of loss you could still claim compensation from the Passport Office
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
That’s just platitudes of a MP fishing for goodwill on the back of a walkabout. How could he have any actual knowledge of what is going on … the comments on this thread and in the press suggest there is a major issue with performance.
Because Peterborough Passport Office is in his constituency where it's one of the major employers ... and it's not the first time he's visited the office ... and he knows a lot more about its workings than you do. Furthermore, in any organisation processing e.g. 5 million documents monthly, there will always be a very small % which for various reasons are delayed / mislaid ... but which are usually traced. No production line (and it is a production line) is or can be 100% efficient. And ref 'the press' ... don't believe everything you read in the 'national' press (as distinct from 'local' press) ... newspapers (transiently employed / contracted journalists wondering were their next crust of bread is coming from) will always exaggerate to try and justify their 'scoops' ... and they also stoop very low to try and 'make' those 'scoops'. I worked in a passport office for years and generally production is efficient ... but workloads can vary and cannot always be predicted ... especially during eg a pandemic. Temporary staff have to be employed and require training ... and they are trained ... but nobody and no system is perfect ... especially when dealing with unprecedented volumes of applications far above forecast.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Local MP praises the efforts of his constituents… why would he do that I wonder?
Come on just look at the performance of our public services. They are poor across the board.
At a personal level I have first hand experience of this in many different places.
I know that is anecdotal and I know there are many hard working civil servants and I’m not seeking to personally criticise any civil servants who frequent this forum.
But the fact remains that the performance is poor and many would seem to attribute the issue that staff have not returned to their offices.
On my desk here I have 16 letters from HMRC with 9 different demands for my 20-21 income tax. Previously I have found HMRC very capable, now my calls get forwarded around many different home workers, you can hear dogs, babies, TVs and music.
Plus similar experience with other public functions.
WFH isn’t working I’m afraid.
Viewed from outside there does appear to be cracks in a few areas of the public services, which is surprising when you've had one party consistently in office for so long, can't fall back on the excuse of disruptions caused by handover of power etc, contrawise... they should've been expected to have it all running seamlessly by now...but there's major problems with GP's/Nhs, the Care sector, Schools have had a tough time, the MET, the Justice system appears to only work/exist for the very wealthy, immigration/ asylum it's a mess/ embarrassing/ disgrace take your pick...still they're doing their best no doubt.
Separate argument, but I can definitely see working from home impacting services. It hadn't even occurred to me.
My wife is a department manager in children & families social care - there are three teams on a "one week in the office, two weeks home" rotation which was brought in at the height of covid and has never been changed back.
Interesting 50/50 split between those who are incredibly productive and motivated and those who are falling desperately behind with their paperwork and court write-ups. I am inclined to agree that wfh isn't a sustainable option for many.
Agree. Seems to me that some people react with outrage when you suggest WFH has drawbacks. And I appreciate that these might be the people well established in their role that do work well from home and see commuting into an office pointless. The problem is I also know of people that are much less productive when working from home. I guess the proof of the pudding will be the outcome of this over time. Managers will know whether their teams are struggling to be productive and, if so, there will be coercion to get back in the office eventually from top down. In my experience, everything is very touchy-feely right now and colleagues are gently being encouraged to 'reacquaint' and 're-familiarise' themselves with the office. My personal experience as someone who started a new job during the pandemic is that my development has been greatly held back. I know 90% of my colleagues as voices on a telephone (most do not even want to turn cameras on!) and I must have missed out on hundreds of little 2-minute chats to get advice and direction. Organising these moments into meetings or specific days just isn't the same.
For the public funded departments, I suspect optics will play a big role...if enough bad-press about services gets out there (I've seen a trend recently in the DM...Rees-Moggs photo, stories about councils ballsing up planning decisions etc), then whether WFH is to blame or not, people will be recalled to offices. I suspect if a 'critical mass' is back in the office, even those that want to continue WFH wont really be able to.
Last edited by Christian; 29th April 2022 at 12:11.
A bit of a derail to the OP's original post but being that that we're discussing WFH as a possible cause of civil service inefficiency then I think it's bound to be. WFH is wonderful if you are a self motivated and disciplined individual, in fact you can probably achieve more in a day if you don't have any commuting to do or have any office distractions. The reality is a lot of people aren't self motivated or disciplined. Anyone who works as part of a team will know colleagues who don't pull their weight and will probably know colleagues who put more effort into avoiding work than they would if they actually knuckled down and got on with it. Why on earth would these individuals change when working from home? If anything I would have thought they'd be doing even less! It's much the same as putting a lazy bugger into a good team hoping they'll be inspired and improve, in my experience they rarely do. What usually happens is they eventually manage to pee the rest of the team off and drag them down to their level of inefficiency!
And that (lazy staff) applies in both public and private sectors. The answer to improving performance is usually in the hands of effective managers, who care for their staff and want to encourage and develop them. I've seen bullies in the civil service who didn't give a stuff about their staff and had been promoted beyond their level of competence. I've seen CEOs and MDs in private companies, who were god-awful, had their positions because they went to the right school and who had had zero management training.
At least in the Civil Service there is regular opportunities for management training, something that is not always available in the private sector. When I was in, there were also quarterly appraisal meetings which directly affected your salary. Again, not something I have encountered in the private sector.
JRM and The Daily Mail are simply repeating the tired old "Public sector bad. Private sector good" trope for their own reasons.
Last edited by dkpw; 29th April 2022 at 13:53.
I only worked in the public sector when I was a postman 40 years ago but I'm sure lack of engagement isn't a malaise that affects the public or private sector any more or less than each other. I worked in private companies for many decades and that's where my observations come from and in the last 20 years of my working for private companies quarterly appraisals were the norm. Those who had, shall we say, a lack of engagement in everything else spent humongous effort on polishing their appraisal portfolios! God awful management was the biggest factor in allowing the disenfranchised to get away with murder.
Finally a call back from the passport office... but not the upgrade team!
More dancing in circles, couldn't/wouldn't pass me through directly but they've left "urgent reminders" for a call back.
Their advice - post the new birth certificate and hope for the best.
If anyone wants me, I'll be in the shed mixing explosives...
As much as I defend the CS when it's defendable, that isn't and is just piss poor.
I suspect that much like as in the DVLA, management have lost a lot of goodwill amongst staff after ‘mandating’ staff to work in offices when covid was spreading rapidly throughout the workforce? If that is the case then it could well be that staff are refusing to work overtime in order to clear the backlog- lots of staff will be glad to escape home after a bad day in a highly pressurised office?
Probably close to actuality.
Earnings eroded by rampant inflation, increases in National Insurance, energy price cap uplift, etc. whilst pay rises are limited to a pretty derisory 2% average isn't going to do much for motivation whether WFH or in an office. Many staff will do just enough to avoid being put on PIP and it's hard to blame them.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
If it’s anything like the HMRC I suspect they don’t have the IT infrastructure to pass calls on like they do in the office so if they can’t solve your issue the best they can offer is to promise a call back that never happens.
Shades of 'they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work', could be.
Those trends are impacting everyone not just civil service. I suspect many in the private sector would like the security and package offered by the CS.
The conditions you depict are what a huge percentage of UK workers are experiencing - but still expected to ‘produce’…………
Many thanks for that- I shall send it on👍🏻
I wonder where the civil service's resources could have gone since 2016?
Anyone who voted for whatever that thing might be deserves everything they get.
You might consider having the copy birth certificate copied as a 'certified copy' ... by a bank, building society, solicitor ... get two certified copies ... post one with a letter and take the original copy to L'pool Passport Office personally ... preferably after being given an appointment ... and explain that the Passport Office mislaid the original and how urgent the application is etc etc
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Really sympathise with your position and hope you get the passport in time.
If I were you though, I would delete your last sentence. It’s on a public forum and you never know how that might be interpreted…
Last edited by FazerBoy; 29th April 2022 at 20:05.
Maybe you should delete 'that part' of your quote ??
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
Speak to your local MP asking him/her to write ministers letter of enquiry and seeking details of their service level agreement for delivery. Ask him/her also to raise a PQ (Parliamentary Question) as to how many similar requests customer enquiries are being handled the same way with lost sensitive docs/items the output.
Good luck!
Jim
Doh! Good point. I will…
Last edited by FazerBoy; 29th April 2022 at 20:11.
Plenty of vacancies
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
It’s made the news.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...e_iOSApp_Other
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
This.
Get in touch with your local MP.
Ask him/her to look into this as matter of urgency.
Do a quick check to see if they are holding a Surgery session this morning and pop down there.
Good Luck
Phone lines not even active today - I'm sure last week I was told it was currently a 7 day a week service!
Genuinely given up. Yesterday I was feeling pretty positive but now completely deflated again. I'll email them instead, should I enclose the email I've sent to my local MP (Chris Green)? Or keep that a separate matter?
*edit* - open now. I must have been 30 seconds early..
Last edited by kevkojak; 30th April 2022 at 09:06.
Yes ... give Ppt Office a copy of the email sent to your MP. ... and next time you speak to Ppt Office ask if you are speaking to a temp or an experienced customer service passport officer
Last edited by sundial; 1st May 2022 at 00:16.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
So why don’t they apply??
If our office of 1000s of Public employees is anything to go by, you're missing that productivity is around 20% lower, with some employees MUCH higher than that.
I expect some are …
So sorry to hear about this, I can only imagine being in similar circumstances a few years ago. Not religious in the slightest, but praying to whatever god you get it sorted in time.
I expect that there are lots of applicants, but of course - security checks need to take place (but with this govt - who knows), and of course - if you don't live in the area, it is a big step to up sticks and move. Can't remember where the Passport Office is located, but housing may be an issue too (cost and availability).
The main issue with places like the passport office, dvla etc is how poorly they handle things when there are issues.
Years ago when I submitted renewal of passports for the entire family the processing stopped due to a problem with the pictures but they made no attempt to inform me and it was only after me contacting them was I told of the issue. So I got the pictures retaken, put in covering letter explaining the issue, wrote the names on the back of each picture but they sent them back to me with a note stating that they were unable to process as they couldn’t tell who was who. So I ended up posting the pictures back individually!
Had an issue with the dvla a few years ago, submitted a change of plate request to get the V5 updated. They sent back the original V5 but only the left page. Called them up and nobody could tell me why the V5 had been split and why it had been sent back to me. Eventually after weeks they found the right hand page and posted it out to me!
Then they always have the opportunity to join us.
I just don't understand how it can be so variable. I submitted the application on 4th April, Royal Mail tracking showed it was signed for at 8am 7th April, it then took until 15th April for this to be acknowledged in the tracking system. Since then nothing. Personally, I don't have a deadline for it to be back, which is a relief.
Sympathies to the OP and others who do.
Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
The disparities experienced in processing times could possibly point towards some different sites experiencing more problems than others, or possibly ‘creative accounting/processing’ solutions…
Conjecture ... Most Passport Offices at this time of year will be working up to 15 hours / day, 7 days / week to process the millions of passport applications received ... employing seasonal & temporary staff ... including 'newbies' who require several weeks training ... It's impossible to accurately forecast actual demand ... so many factors affect demand ... not just a matter of ascertaining how many renewals will require processing. When necessary, original applications are transhipped between offices to 'even out' the workload. Delays are often due to applicants' errors e.g. not completing application form(s) correctly &/or not submitting correct supporting documents. You'd be surprised how many applications are rejected because applicants submit photographs which do not conform to required criteria.
Last edited by sundial; 2nd May 2022 at 15:27.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
I e clicked on this thread a few times…. Desperate for some good news for you Kev 👍🏼
Absolutely Dunc, apparently I’m ‘suspicious’ by nature so when reading that the passport office ultimately comes under Priti Ugly Alleged Bully Patel….
Bless 'em.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Great headline!
My local ASDA is "working" 24hrs a day, 7 days a week..................................
But there is no suggestion that any workers are doing more than their shift (unless getting lucrative overtime)............ it is "OPEN"
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