To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average time taken between receiving a passport application and its issue at each passport office in 1989; and what he expects the position to be in 1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average time taken between receiving a passport application and its issue at each passport office in 1989; and what he expects the position to be in 1990.

Passport applications are processed according to the applicant's travel requirements, with priority being given to urgent cases. As a result, processing times in a given period vary considerably, and averages are not recorded.The maximum processing times in working days for straightforward non-urgent postal applications at the six United Kingdom passport offices during 1989 were as follows:

	Days
London	48
Liverpool	110
Peterborough	76
Newport	51
Glasgow	64
Belfast	10

Most applications were processed well within these maximum periods.Processing times should be reduced next year, as a result of enhancements made to the computer systems at the Glasgow and Liverpool offices, the employment of additional permanent staff at all offices, and other measures.