PASSPORT Office workers in the North-East are expected to take part in strike action tomorrow (Monday July 28).

Staff at the Milburngate House complex, in Durham, will join thousands of colleagues from other passport offices nationally responding to the strike called by the Public and Commercial Services union.

The action, in response to hundreds of job cuts in the service in recent years, is expected to add to the mounting backlog processing passports.

A union statement said, despite the cuts, the agency only recently agreed to meet PCS officials to “seriously discuss” jobs following media and political scrutiny, and in the wake of pressure from a House of Commons select committee.

Union officials claim the agency has failed to address the problem of long-term understaffing, instead adopting a “sticking plaster policy”.

Although a new recruitment drive is underway many posts advertised are not permanent jobs and are only expected to replace the eight-per cent of staff, around 300 full-time equivalent posts, the agency expects will leave each year.

Immigration minister James Brokenshire recently confirmed a 367 drop in Passport Office staff numbers since 2010.

In a bid to cope this year’s crisis, the Passport Office drafted in staff from other Home Office agencies, extended opening hours for processing centres and offered enhanced overtime payments.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The staffing crisis in the Passport Office has been obvious for everyone to see and it shouldn’t have taken a committee of MPs to force the chief executive to meet us to discuss it.

“We’re still a long way off getting a commitment from the agency that it will work with us to put the proper resources in place to ensure these backlogs do not reoccur year after year.”

The strike, the first solely by passport staff since 2008, is likely to see seven out of 10 passport office staff stop work.

It comes as the service attempts to deal with a backlog of up to 500,000 applications which caused the recent crisis.

The Home Office described the strike as “irresponsible”, inconveniencing customers and jeopardising people’s holiday plans.

“We have contingency plans in place to ensure that during any industrial action passport offices will maintain a service to the public and keep any inconvenience to a minimum.”

The Home Office statement added that Passport Office customer service counters will remain open and passports would be issued, “in emergency situations, with urgent travel needs.”