Motion Approved for the Improvement of Consular Services in Manchester

The Plenary Assembly of the CGIE (General Council of Italians Abroad) — the advisory body to the Government and Parliament on matters concerning Italians abroad, and the representative body of the Comites, who elect its territorial councillors — concluded today.

This year, a motion was unanimously approved calling for an increase in staff at the Consulate in Manchester and the creation of a task force to clear the backlog that is significantly affecting waiting times for many postal services.

Those who have been following us for some years may have noticed that this is the third consecutive year the CGIE has endorsed such an appeal. As stated, the CGIE is an advisory body; it is up to the Government and Parliament to decide whether and how to translate this recommendation into concrete action. The difficulties in this consular district continue to be brought to light in every possible forum, in line with the representative role entrusted to us by our fellow citizens.

A heartfelt thank you goes to the lead signatory, Councillor Luigi Billè, and to all CGIE members who endorsed the motion.

Below is the text of the approved motion:

Nearly three years after the reopening of the Italian Consulate in Manchester (July 2022), the state of consular services remains highly critical. Despite the extraordinary commitment of staff — which has led to exceptional results in passport issuance (ranking 14th worldwide by total volume in 2024) — service provision remains insufficient to meet users’ needs.

Following two previously submitted motions, this latest motion highlights the following issues:

• The waiting time for processing postal passport applications now exceeds six months;

• The Consulate’s phone lines are only available two hours per week and are, in practice, extremely difficult to reach;

• The Consulate is unable to offer effective assistance in completing applications to all citizens who need it, and merely directs them to the website;

• The Prenot@mi platform, used to book passport and electronic ID appointments, is almost instantly saturated when new slots are released, making access extremely difficult and creating significant inequalities among users.

• These serious service access issues are encouraging the growth of a parallel market, in which various actors within the consular district offer paid assistance for profit or exploit the need for support for personal or political gain.

The current dedication of staff, while commendable and extraordinary, cannot alone compensate for a structural lack of personnel that undermines the quality and fairness of service delivery.

Furthermore, the Italian population in the consular district is continuously growing, due both to internal migration within the UK and to the young average age of AIRE-registered residents. These factors make it clear that the current issues will only worsen unless urgent action is taken to realise the full potential of the strategic investment made with the reopening of the consulate.

In light of the above, we REQUEST:

• The immediate allocation of additional resources to permanently increase staff capacity, including through new permanent hires.

• The urgent deployment of a temporary task force, composed of contract staff, to clear the backlog in postal applications.