Identity Cards (Hansard, 16 June 2004)

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the processes involved in reading the information stored on the proposed identity card. [171599]

§ Mr. Browne
The identity cards scheme is still in the early design stage but we are planning for it to be flexible in offering different levels of card checks to suit the particular transactions. For example, retailers wanting to check proof of age might just check the person against the photograph on the card and the date of birth. In comparison, public or private sector organisations might check a person's biometric using a reader and verify this against the National Identity Register before providing a service.
It is too soon to finalise how exactly the more sophisticated types of verification check will be made and the type of technology which will be used. However, as we made clear in the consultation document published on 26 April, verification checks of cards will simply confirm identity and other relevant details. The draft Identity Cards Bill also makes clear that these 983W checks will only be made with the consent of the individual, unless specifically allowed under the draft Bill.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 24 May 2004,Official Report, column 1419W, on identity cards, if he will list all the categories of person who have not applied for an identity card who, under the proposals in the draft Identity Cards Bill, will be recorded on the National Identity Register. [176452]

§ Mr. Browne
Under Clause 2(4) of the draft Identity Cards Bill, individuals who have not applied to register, or who are not entitled, may be recorded. There is therefore no definitive list of which individuals will be recorded. Examples of who could be included under Clause 2(4) include failed asylum seekers, illegal immigrants who are removed and third country nationals intending to stay in the country for less than three months but whose passport has been surrendered for bail purposes.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 24 May 2004,Official Report, column 1419W on identity cards, what biometric data will be used in the processes being tested. [176453]

§ Mr. Browne
The United Kingdom Passport Service's biometric enrolment pilot records face, fingerprint and iris biometrics. Not all of these biometrics are recorded from each volunteer.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 24 May 2004, Official Report, column 1419W, on identity cards, whether failure to produce an identity card as proposed by the draft Identity Cards Bill will provide grounds for arrest in circumstances where a non-arrestable offence is suspected. [176454]

§ Mr. Browne
The Government have made it clear that it will not be a requirement to carry an identity card or to produce a card to a police officer on demand and, as such, it will not be an offence for a person to fail to produce an identity card to a police constable. The police will not have power to arrest for failure to provide an identity card.
Police powers in England and Wales to identify a person arrested for a recordable offence are contained in section 25 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984. This section states that where a constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that any offence which is not an arrestable offence has been committed or attempted, or is being committed or attempted, he may arrest the relevant person if it appears to him that the service of a summons is impractical or inappropriate because any of the general arrest conditions is satisfied. The general arrest conditions include where the name or address of the relevant person is unknown to, and cannot be readily ascertained by, the constable, or that the constable has reasonable grounds for doubting whether a name or address furnished by the relevant person is his real name. Similar provisions under different statutes apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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These powers will be unaffected by the introduction of an identity card. As at present with existing documents, people will be free to produce an identity card on a voluntary basis (if they have one) to a police officer or to any other official as a means of establishing their identity, but will not be compelled to do so.