Anyone with even a passing interest in Welsh and Newport affairs would have heard already at the planned closure/jobs decimation at the Newport passport office, but the issue could well have resonance for all those worried at how the current Con-Dem administration plan to overhaul/ruin our public services.
The civil service, no doubt inspired by self interested analysts (hired by new labour) in the business consultancy community, have determined that there is 'spare capacity' in the passport system. 'Spare capacity' is a very ambiguous word to use in the context of a public service and it neatly disguises the fact that the UK'S Identity and Passport Service is profit making.
Plaid Cymru of course supports the PCS and other trade unions in their battle to prevent the planned closures.
Given that the service is performing well, with just a perceived bit of slack in the system, what is the motivation behind the passport office closures? Tighten this slack and it may well prove impossible to get an emergency passport given the waiting list and demand in the existing offices. It is difficult to be conclusive of course without access to government documents. Rest assured that there is a comprehensive Freedom Of Information Request being made to this extent. What is clear however is that public sector cuts are not the only aspect of Tory DNA. They are driven too by the desire to privatize and push public profit into the hands of shareholders. It may well, therefore, only be a coincidence that Sarah Rapson the current CEO of the Identity and Passport Service was once a senior manager for American Express- the company that runs an emergency lost passport service in partnership with the UK government.
I, for one, look forward to the Home Office denying there are any plans whatsoever in privatizing any aspect of the UK's passport service.
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