That doesn't line up with what I thought the position was, namely that at least one passport office would start issuing blue ones from late February. Having said that, this area tends to end up running a few weeks/months later than the initial plans, and bringing things forwards isn't generally the way things work. The turn around time at the moment is very short, renewals being done within a few days, which tends to go upwards as we get towards Easter and the summer half terms and other school holidays. So personally I would aim to do renewals in February, after the key relevant votes in Parliament go through (or not as the case may be).