Anti-vaxxers threaten
the Covid fightback
Melanie Phillips
Page 28
for universal credit because more
than 10,000 Department for Work
and Pensions staff were redeployed to
the front line to help process the
unprecedented number of claims.
The Department of Health built
seven new hospitals in a matter of
weeks and the Ministry of Justice is
setting up ten temporary
“Nightingale” courts to clear the
cases that have built up during thecoronavirus crisis. It shows it can be
done, but the picture is far too mixed.
I’m not suggesting that
government employees should
return to their offices before it is safe
to do so, but the prime minister
cannot have it both ways. If it is time
to “go back to work if you can” then
the public sector should lead by
example, rather than lagging behind
private companies. This is not about
“presenteeism” in Whitehall — in
fact policy officials may be able to
work perfectly effectively from home
— but about the practical delivery of
critical services.
No 10 is determined to wage a
culture war in Whitehall, ousting Sir
Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary,
and attempting to politicise the
Commons intelligence and security
committee. The prime minister’s team
would do better to focus on improving
competence where it counts.Pubs are open but critical services stay shut
It’s absurd that Whitehall unions are holding up the issuing of vital documents such as passports and driving licences
ALAMY
official body with a bureaucratic
backlog. Driving tests will resume
this week, but only for key workers
and those who had appointments
cancelled when the lockdown was
imposed, meaning that thousands of
teenagers hoping to get a licence will
have to wait months to sit their tests.
People over 70, who are required
to renew their driving licence every
three years, are also facing long
delays because almost 800,000 older
drivers have applied for a renewal
since March. The time for processing
probate, part of the legal process
required after someone dies, is
taking nearly twice as long as usual,
because public sector staff have not
returned to their offices.
Some government departments
have coped perfectly well with the
social distancing restrictions
introduced during the pandemic.
There is no backlog in applicationsThe transition from burgundy to blue
passports is slowing the work downaccording to a Whitehall source. Yet
there is no sense of urgency at the
Home Office, which is responsible
for the Passport Office. When I
asked Priti Patel’s department
whether face-to-face services would
resume by August 1, after the prime
minister’s announcement last week, a
spokesman could not give a
definitive answer.
“We encourage those who are able
to do so to apply at a later date and
those that need to apply to do so
online as it will likely be quicker,”
said a statement that arrived by
email, along with a note confirming
that the service had been scaled back
and passports would take “longer
than usual” to process.
A friend who had to delay a
long-planned trip to Turkey
because she was unable to renew her
passport in time says: “Ministers
announced the travel ban was over,
and said we could go on foreign
holidays but they have not reopened
the Passport Office in time for
my family to be able to get away.
It’s so inconsistent.”
Of course, it is not essential to take
a foreign holiday, or indeed a holiday
at all, but this government failure has
consequences for the travel industry
as well as consumers, who will be
unable to reclaim the cost of
cancelled trips. In any case, a
passport is not just a travel
document, it is a proof of identity
that can be required for transactions
such as a mortgage application. One
senior Tory, who is involved in
discussions about civil service
reform, says it is “absolutely absurd”
that issuing offices are still closed.
“Passports are essential services,”
this insider fumed. “If people can
stock supermarket aisles” then the
public sector should be able to
process document applications.
The Passport Office is not the onlyI
t is more than a week since
Boris Johnson declared at
one of his “People’s PMQs” that
government policy was changing
from “stay at home if you can” to
“go back to work if you can”. On
Friday the reversal was formalised
with the announcement that from
August 1 the lockdown rules would
be relaxed and employers given
“more discretion” over bringing
people back into the office. “I
certainly want to see people coming
back to the civil service here in
London,” the prime minister said, as
he insisted that “normality” could
return by Christmas.
As ever, though, there are mixed
messages coming out of the
government. Sir Patrick Vallance,
the chief scientific adviser, suggested
that there was “absolutely no reason”
to change the guidance on working
from home. Meanwhile, Whitehall
departments remain deserted,
some official agencies show no signs
of reopening and critical public
services are not being delivered in
“Backlog Britain”.
Some people have had to wait
more than four months for passports
to be processed, thousands of elderly
motorists are housebound and
isolated because they have been
unable to renew their driving
licences and more than 150,000
babies lack legal status because their
parents could not register their birth.
Even though the official Gov.UK
Twitter account is sending out the
message that “Whatever you’ve
missed, now is the time to get back
out there and enjoy it safely”, many
recipients of this advice are in limbo,
unable to go on holiday, take a
driving test or buy a house.
The cabinet will meet in person
today for the first time since March
to “set an example” to the country,
but this is gesture politics when what
matters is to get the state functioning
for ordinary citizens.
It is ridiculous, for example, that
pubs, hairdressers and nail salons
are open yet the Passport Office
remains closed to the public. More
than a million passports have
expired during the lockdown but
many holders have been unable to
renew them, meaning families have
been forced to cancel or delay their
holidays. Although it is still possible
to apply for a passport online, the
average processing time has doubled
and some people have had to wait
143 days for their request to be
completed. The premium fast-track
service and the face-to-face
interviews required for a first adultpassport have been suspended,
leaving travellers unable to get their
documents in time to go abroad
this summer.
This is partly because the Public
and Commercial Services Union,
which represents many of the 2,000
Passport Office employees, has set
stringent conditions on the return
to work and is resisting plans to
use a skeleton staff to keep offices
working until 10pm to clear the
backlog. The transition from
burgundy to blue “Brexit” passports
is also slowing things down,The time to process
probate is taking nearly
twice as long as normal
This is not about
presenteeism but the
delivery of services
Comment
@rsylvestertimes
Rachel
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