IT IS NOTABLE that a lot of what people warned would happen when the Passport Office went ahead with major job losses in Newport, seem to have become reality.

It is obvious that there was a particular issue during the summer this year when demand for passports seemed to overwhelm the slimmed-down service.

The overtime bill alone has hit the £5 million mark.

Now today we are seeing a damning report by the Home Affairs Committee which says the service needs to look at its staffing situation to ensure there are adequate staff to cope when demand is at its height rather than relying on overtime.

Although Newport West MP Paul Flynn, who sits on the committee, thinks there could be jobs returning to the Passport Office in Newport, we have to bear in mind that the report from a select committee may not necessarily have any influence on government policy.

Select committees consist of groups of cross-party MPs. They are not part of the government machine.

But that said, what select committees can do very well, is bring issues such as this into the public domain.

Let’s hope that by highlighting this issue in such a forthright fashion and by coming forward with a suggested solution, the MPs can persuade the government that the Passport Office is understaffed.

And if that is the case, it seems only right that those jobs come back to Newport.