With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the parents' passports that were submitted with the application of their child have been returned.
The Passport Services prioritises dispatching the applicant's passport once it has been issued. Supporting documents submitted with the application are dispatched separately and, depending on current volumes, can take a number of weeks to be returned to the applicant or their guardians.
Resourcing the Passport Service is of the highest priority for my Department who are actively working with the Public Appointments Service to recruit both permanent and temporary staff between now and the end of January 2022. This will double the number of staff from June levels to a total of 920 staff by the end of January. These additional resources will help to improve customer experience and reduce turnaround times, including the return of supporting documents.