Ministers knew about UK passport helpline firm’s poor performance a year ago

theguardian.com:

Warnings about the “unsatisfactory” performance of the private firm running the beleaguered Passport Office advice line were made to government ministers more than a year ago, it can be revealed.

Teleperformance, a French-owned multinational, failed to meet targets for responding to calls and emails as early as May 2021, according to official documents seen by the Observer.

They show that a review of its performance last summer concluded that it needed improvement. But instead it worsened over the following months, prompting officials to pledge that they would work with the firm to improve standards.

The revelation comes amid a mounting crisis at the Passport Office, with thousands of people unable to travel for holidays, weddings, funerals and family emergencies due to application delays.

MPs were told last Wednesday that around 50,000 Britons had been waiting more than 10 weeks for their passports, with 550,000 applications in the system in June.

The department is said to have too few staff to deal with post-pandemic demand and has failed to attract new recruits quickly enough.

Teleperformance, which does not process passports but is the first point of contact for people seeking advice on their applications, is accused of worsening the backlog by providing unhelpful and sometimes even inaccurate advice.

Customer service agents, who are paid just above minimum wage and work from home, in many cases do not have the security clearance needed to access details from the secure Home office system.

A whistleblower said people were turning up at passport offices “in their droves” after getting a “bad service” from the helpline, leaving other staff working for the service to pick up the pieces. “By the time customers come to us they’re