Letter: Passport pressure

John Sheldon
Thursday 20 May 1999 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: As the union which represents staff in the Passport Agency, the Public and Commercial Services Union shares the frustrations of your correspondents (letters, 17, 19 May).

Last September PCS pressed management to increase staffing levels to cope with demand and ensure we did not end up in the state we are in today. We even met ministers to express our fears.

Ministers have now agreed a significant increase in staffing and a package of measures to try to clear the backlog. Hopefully, those waiting for their passports will soon seen the benefits of our efforts.

Our members are working flat out to ensure customers get their passports as soon as possible.

JOHN SHELDON

Joint General Secretary

Public and Commercial Services Union

London SW11

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in