The government is planning a new set of charges for passports as
officials struggle to meet large debts from the failed national
implementation of a computer system in 1999.
UK Passport Service staff say the new charges for the fast-track
processing of passports will increase revenue significantly.
The Commons was told nearly two years ago by then home secretary
Jack Straw that the losses of £12.6m arising from the private
finance initiative fiasco, which included hiring hundreds of extra
staff to clear a backlog of more than 500,000 passport
applications, would be met from efficiency savings and not from
passport fees.
But the efficiency savings programme has yet to materialise, and
Passport Service staff have told Computer Weekly they know of no
significant cost-cutting plans.
They claim the new charges are intended to help cover the losses
arising from the implementation of the Siemens Passport Application
Support System (Pass).
A Home Office spokeswoman, however, said the tiered charges are
only under consideration, although the UK Passport Service will be
reporting on these shortly. She refused to comment on whether the
charges would be used to pay for losses arising from the 1999
crisis.
Passport Service staff have confirmed that there are final
preparations to introduce a scale of charges for passports in the
first quarter of 2002. With the new pricing structure in place, the
Passport Service expects the budgeted £13.7m deficit in 2001/2 to
be turned into a surplus in 2002/3. The expected £1m surplus in
that year is predicted to grow each year to £35.9m by 2005/6.
The differential charging will take advantage of what the Passport
Service describes as an increasing tendency in customer behaviour
towards last-minute travel.
Under the current system, applicants can obtain passports quickly,
or on the same day, by proving an urgent need to travel. This is
expected to be scrapped. Staff say the new service will respond to
applicants on the basis of ability to pay, not the need to travel.
The same-day premium service is predicted to include a standard
fee, counter charge, and a further premium levy. Staff also expect
the cost of the standard 10-day, non-guaranteed turnaround service
to rise in the New Year.
Different fees will be charged for a guaranteed five-day service, a
"personal service for counter customers" and a one-day "premium"
service.
Siemens is expected to benefit financially from the Tiered
Application Service because it was not written into the original
business plan for Pass.
Anatomy of an IT disaster
The failed introduction of a
Siemens Passport Application Support System (Pass) in 1999 led to a
shortfall in the planned capacity to process passports. Although
Pass - running Oracle and Windows NT - was more secure than the
Tandem-based system it replaced, the new equipment was slower than
expected, partly because of end-user unfamiliarity and a change in
working methods. A fall in productivity created a backlog of more
than 500,000 applications. MPs were told that the losses arising
from the crisis, including the payment to existing employees of up
to £20 an hour in overtime to tackle the backlog would be a maximum
of £12.6m.
But Computer Weekly has learnt that the costs associated with Pass
have continued to climb. In addition to the £12.6m, the Passport
Service has to cope with a "significant" deficit of £13.7m in
2001/2, arising partly from the roll-out of the system and the need
to run two systems in London while staff moved offices. Originally
Pass was to be installed by February 1999, but the roll-out is not
now due to be completed until next month.