Sheffield family's dismay over passport delays leaving £11k holiday in doubt as MP claims system is 'broken'

Ben Harris-Shaw has been looking forward to his family’s first holiday abroad in four years for some time now, after spending the last two years planning their trip to Spain’s Costa del Sol.

The 39-year-old’s plans to jet off with his three children, his parents, his sister, brother-in-law and their child on a holiday costing an estimated £11,500 are now in jepoardy because his son, Sonny’s, passport has still not arrived – over 12 weeks on from when the renewal application was submitted.

“You can’t go and apply for one on the day when you’ve already got an application in, and we’re just in limbo,” said Ben, who works as a bank manager.

He added: “Sonny’s 15 now and we won’t be able to afford to go for another couple of years, and he probably won’t want to go with his family then, so this could be his last family holiday.

“I don’t think they understand how much stress this situation causes people. I suffer from anxiety, and I had gone off my medication, but I’ve had to start taking it again because of all this.”

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A statement on the website of the HM Passport Office spokesperson states the service has been experiencing ‘unprecedented demand’ this year, ‘as more than five million people delayed applying for passports during COVID-19 because of restrictions in international travel’.

Passport Office guidance states that the ‘vast majority of all passport applications are being dealt with well within 10 weeks’.

Ben, of Hackenthorpe, submitted application for his, Sonny’s and his daughter Stevie’s passports to be renewed on April 23 this year, ahead of the family flying out on July 28.

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The single dad received his new passport in the second week of May, without any issues; but he was asked to send copies of Sonny and Stevie’s birth certificates into the Passport Office, which he did on May 3.

Due to Sonny and Stevie's applications having different reference numbers, he sent their birth certificates in separate envelopes.

But while Stevie’s birth certificate was received and processed, leading to her receiving her passport a couple of weeks later, Sonny’s was not, leading to Ben paying for, and sending another copy of Sonny’s birth certificate into the Passport Office via recorded delivery on June 23.

Despite the Passport Office signing for Sonny’s birth certificate on June 27, it still has not been scanned on to the Passport Office’s system, leading Ben to fear that it will not be sent out in time and he will be forced to cancel the family’s longed-for holiday.

“It’s causing friction in the family, because we don’t know what we’re doing. We can’t go without my son, and I know he’s going to be devastated,” Ben said.

“I keep calling them and they keep telling me it’ll be fine. They said that I had to wait until it was 14 days before we fly before Sonny’s application can be eligible for the express process, but we’ve passed that now and they still can’t guarantee that it’ll come in time, and if it doesn’t, ‘it’s just one of those things’.”

“I’d drive to Glasgow, Liverpool, wherever to pick it up, but we have to just wait for it.”

Ben has also contacted his MP, Clive Betts, to ask for his assistance in asking for Sonny's passport application to be expedited.

Mr Betts said Sonny’s application is just one of 16 his office are currently looking into, have already dealt with countless more, as the Sheffield Attercliffe MP describes the system as being ‘broken’.

“It’s a disgrace, and an awful situation. I know they’ve had a record number of applications but they should have been prepared.

“I don’t think they’ve got enough staff, and are drafting staff in from other agencies, but I don’t think they really understand what they’re doing,” Mr Betts said.

A HM Passport Office spokesperson said: “Between March and May, we processed approximately three million applications, with 97.7% of applications processed within that timeframe in the first half of the year. But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.

“For the small percentage of customers whose applications take longer than ten weeks, there is an expedited service at no additional cost to help ensure that they receive their passport ahead of their travel.”