§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the experience of other countries regarding the experience of ethnic minorities with demands to show identity cards. [182299]
§ Mr. BrowneWe have looked at schemes in other countries but the experience of ethnic minorities in other countries depends on a range of factors which are not necessarily comparable. These include:
- (i) whether the scheme is voluntary or compulsory;
- (ii) what police powers exist to require a person to produce an identity card or otherwise identify themselves;
- (iii) how the card scheme is linked to the provision of public services;
- (iv) what use the private sector makes of the card scheme; and
- (v) what legal safeguards are in place to outlaw unlawful discrimination.
We have announced that we are building a base for a compulsory scheme. One of the advantages of a compulsory scheme is that any requirement to produce a card would not be discriminatory as everyone would have one. We have said that there will be no new power for the police to stop someone and demand to see their card. Our draft Bill does allow public services to specify how a card might be produced but Parliament will have to approve the rules on a case-by-case basis. There are also provisions to guard against 'compulsion by the back door' by prohibiting organisations from making an ID card the exclusive means of proving identity in advance of the scheme being compulsory.
Finally the administration of the scheme and how it is used to verify identity by public services will be bound by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.