HL Deb 16 December 2002 vol 642 cc66-7WA
Baroness Sharples

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why they estimate that it should take three years to implement the introduction of an entitlement card when many companies are already geared up to produce such cards. [HL387]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Filkin)

There are a number of steps which must be taken before an entitlement card scheme could be implemented, should the Government decide to proceed with one after the current consultation exercise concludes. These include:

  1. (i) securing Parliament's agreement to primary legislation to enact a scheme;
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  2. (ii) designing and implementing the checks on applicants which would be necessary before a card could be issued, which may need to be higher than those currently in place for passports and driving licences;
  3. (iii) developing an office network (through agreements with third parties) so that if a personal visit was required before a card was issued people would not have to travel too far to apply;
  4. (iv) procuring and implementing IT systems to process applications and deal with lost or stolen cards.

The Government believe that three years is a challenging but realistic timetable for the introduction of a scheme should they decide to proceed and Parliament approves the legislation.