An inquiry is taking place into a picture leaked by a Passport Office member of staff showing the backlog Passport Office boss Paul Pugh is due to give evidence to MPs on the home affairs select committee amid claims that his agency is in "chaos". MPs would seek a "full explanation" of long delays in handling applications, committee chairman Keith Vaz said.
The hearing comes shortly after the home secretary announced a plan aiming to deal with a backlog of 30,000 cases.
Labour said the spike in demand should have been foreseen and Theresa May should apologise for the "shambles".
In a statement, the Home Office has said Mrs May recognised the "understandable concerns" about delays and was "determined to do everything possible, while maintaining the security of the passport, to speed up the system".
The government said last week that people facing delays to their passport renewal would be able to get it fast-tracked for free.
Among other emergency measures, those applying for passports overseas on behalf of their children will be given special travel documents.
'Extraordinary lengths'Mr Pugh has said there had been "exceptional" summer demand but that extra staff had been brought in to handle applications.
Continue reading the main storyIt is vital we have the full facts in order to understand whether this government agency is still fit for purpose”End Quote Keith Vaz Committee chairman Mrs May and other Home Office ministers have partly attributed the surge in applications to growing public confidence about the economy.
But critics have blamed the closure of seven overseas passport processing centres, which has seen all the paperwork they used to handle now processed in the UK.
Unions have said ministers had gone "to extraordinary lengths" to deny the scale of the problems, which they say are a result of staff cuts since 2010.
Labour MP Mr Vaz MP said: "The HM Passport Office is in chaos and the Home Secretary's urgent action shows the true scale of the problem."
"We will be asking Mr Pugh for a full explanation of what has happened and specifically how these emergency measures are being put in place.
"It is vital we have the full facts in order to understand whether this government agency is still fit for purpose."
Mr Pugh is due to give evidence following testimony from Public and Commercial Services Union representative Mike Jones.
Three million UK passports have been issued in 2014, including more than one million since the start of April, while about 465,000 renewals and first-time passport requests are currently in the system.
In its annual report last year, the Passport Office forecast that changes to the way overseas applications were handled would lead to it dealing with 350,000 more applicants.