Ministers knew about UK passport helpline firm’s poor performance a year ago

French multinational was missing targets for calls and emails as far back as May 2021, documents show

Warnings about the unsatisfactory" performance of the private firm running the beleaguered Passport Office advice line were made to government ministers more than a year ago, it can be revealed.

Teleperformance, a French-owned multinational, failed to meet targets for responding to calls and emails as early as May 2021, according to official documents seen by the Observer.