Identity Cards (Hansard, 17 May 2004)

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution identity cards are intended to make to combating terrorism. [169442]

§ Mr. Browne
We know that about 35 per cent. of terrorists use false or multiple identities. An identity cards scheme which made it far more difficult to establish multiple identities would help to disrupt terrorist support networks.
As the Home Secretary has always made clear—going back to 2001—an identity card scheme would not guarantee to protect the UK against a terrorist attack. However, the Government have a duty to take all reasonable measures which will contribute to preventing and disrupting terrorist activity.

§ Mr. Allan
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to complete the Gateway Review Stage for the National Identity Cards Programme; and if he will publish the outcome of that review. [169814]

§ Mr. Browne
Legislation on Identity Cards—A Consultation (CM 6178) explains that the Identity Cards Programme will be subject to continuing external review by the Office of Government Commerce Gateway process. A Gateway 0 review of the Programme took place in January 2004 which concluded that it was ready to proceed to the next stage. Subsequent Gateway reviews of the Programme will take place throughout its development and implementation. In line with the usual practice, the reports from these Gateway Reviews are not published.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasion and how frequently identity cards under the Draft Identity Cards Bill would need to be renewed. [169913]

§ Mr. Browne
ID cards will have a limited validity, this power is provided for in the draft Identity Cards Bill. At present passports and driving licences are valid for 10 years and the cost estimates for the identity cards scheme are based on fees for cards covering a 10 year period.
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However, in advance of it being a requirement to register, there will be no compulsion to renew an identity card. Only when it is a requirement to register will there be a requirement on individuals, whose card will expire in a prescribed period or whose card is not valid, to apply for an ID card within a prescribed period. Different validity periods will apply in different cases, for example the validity of cards issued to foreign nationals will be linked to the length of their entitlement to stay in the country. Validity periods will require the approval of Parliament.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the draft regulations under the Draft Identity Cards Bill that will be published in time for pre-legislative scrutiny at the same time as the Bill. [169914]

§ Mr. Browne
The Legislation on Identity Cards Consultation paper (Cm 61708) makes clear that the draft Identity Cards Bill is an enabling measure and that detailed provisions will be set out later in regulations, relating for example to the level of fees or the application process. Regulations will not, therefore, be published during the consultation period on the draft Bill but will be determined as the identity cards programme proceeds.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Government databases that will be linked to the National Identity Register under proposals in the Draft Identity Cards Bill. [169916]

§ Mr. Browne
There are no provisions in the draft Identity Cards Bill, which establish a direct link between the National Identity Register and any other Government database.
However, applications for one of the family of identity cards will require checks to be made against other databases, including those of public sector bodies. The data-sharing gateways established for this purpose will be used only when processing applications for cards or related purposes to ensure that the person, who applies to register and to be issued with an identity card, is the person he or she claims to be. Under the draft Bill, Parliament would have to approve each such "gateway" via an affirmative order where no powers already exist for the sharing of data in this way.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines he will issue on police use of finger-print information held on the National Identity Register proposed in the draft Identity Card Bill. [170257]

§ Mr. Browne
Disclosure of information from the National Identity Register without the individual's consent may be made to the police only in the specified circumstances set out in Clause 20(3) of the draft Bill. This is subject to certain rules, including that information will only be disclosed if the Secretary of State is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the police to have obtained the information by another means. For example, if fingerprint information 775W is recorded on the register, the police would first have to search their own fingerprint records before resorting to the register. I will consider the need for further guidance on this subject nearer to the time of the introduction of the identity cards scheme.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which bodies will have access to all the data stored on the National Identity Register. [170262]

§ Mr. Browne
Proposals to permit information held on the National Identity Register to be disclosed without an individual's consent are set out in "Legislation on Identity Cards: A Consultation" (CM6178) published on 26 April.
It is incorrect to say that any body or person will have "access" to the register, rather the legislation will permit the Secretary of Sate to disclose information where a person consents or, where a person does not consent, only for specified purposes to specified persons.
There will be an exception to the general bar on disclosing information without consent, but disclosure will only be allowed to specified persons for specified purposes approved by Parliament and will be subject to an internal authorisation and independent oversight procedure.
There will be a general power to disclose information to the security and intelligence agencies for their statutory purposes under clause 20.
In addition, law enforcement agencies will be able to seek disclosure of information from the National Identity Register for the prevention or investigation of crime under clause 20 (3). For these groups, disclosure of "audit trails" of card usage would be permitted only in cases of serious crime under clause 20 (8). The police in Scotland will have similar powers but will only be permitted to apply for disclosure in relation to matters that are reserved under clause 20 (7)(b).

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how individuals will gain access to relevant services if their identity card is lost or stolen. [170263]

§ Mr. Browne
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Beverley Hughes) gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West (John Barrett) on 9 February 2004,Official Report, column 1261W. My right hon. Friend said that an identity card, although very helpful to public services as a reliable means of proving identity, would not become mandatory for free public services and benefits until a specific further parliamentary decision on a move to compulsion. Where the identity card is used to access public services we will want to ensure that procedures are in place to help those whose card has been lost or stolen, especially in cases of emergency.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what communication strategy has been developed to ensure, engagement with the public on the subject of identity cards. [170264]
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§ Mr. Browne
The communication strategy on identity cards includes the following elements to ensure engagement with the publicQuantitative and qualitative research was undertaken with the general public during the first consultation period. The findings are set out in "Identity Cards: A summary of Findings from the Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud" (CM6019). Further quantitative and qualitative research among the general will be undertaken during the current consultation period. It is important that members of the public are able easily and quickly to obtain information about identity cards from a dedicated UK Government website. Therefore a new website domain has been registered (www.identitycards.gov.uk) and a new website created that contains official publications about identity cards. This will be updated with additional information as the national identity cards scheme progresses. Currently, there is a section about the consultation which invites individuals to comment on the draft legislation through a dedicated e-mail address. Media handling strategies have been developed to make the best use of press and broadcast opportunities for engaging with the general public about identity cards. The 'essential information' leaflet which is sent out with all new passports has been updated by the UK Passport Service to confirm that, subject to legislation, the passport will become part of a future family of national identity cards. A public awareness campaign will be developed to support the roll out of the first identity cards from 2007–08.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to pilot data sharing powers in advance of the introduction of identity cards. [170324]

§ Mr. Browne
"Identity Cards: The Next Steps" (CM 6020) published in November 2003 made it clear that applications for one of the family of identity cards will require checks to be made against other databases, held by the public or private sector, in order to help establish that an application for a card is genuine. This followed recommendations on identity verification included in the Cabinet Office study on Identity Fraud, published in July 2002.
The data-sharing gateways which may be approved by Parliament in clause 11 of the draft Identity Cards Bill will only be used when processing applications for an identity card or for related purposes (for example, issuing a replacement) to ensure that the person who applies to register is the person he or she claims to be. These powers do not confer any general right to share data for wider purposes.
In order to allow for testing of the identity cards scheme in advance of the first cards being issued, these data sharing powers could be piloted but it is not possible to give further detail at this stage as detailed work on implementation of an identity cards scheme is not at the stage where we can be definitive about these timings. Use of the powers on a pilot basis would require Parliament's consent.

§ Mr. Alan Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to procure(a) ID cards and (b) ID card technology from firms within the UK. [170408]

§ Mr. Browne
Government policy requires that all procurement must be transparent and non-discriminatory, and that contracts must be awarded on a value-for-money 777W basis. Any requirement for services or goods above certain value thresholds, which will include those in support of the identity cards programme, must be advertised across the European Union.
We have been discussing technical options with Intellect, the UK information technology, telecommunications and electronics industry trade body, for the past two years. We hope that UK industry will rise to the challenge and opportunity that the identity cards programme brings.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what biometric information he intends to store on(a) passports and (b) driving licences; and what databases will be established to store such information centrally. [170816]

§ Mr. Browne
The United Kingdom Passport Service is planning to implement the facial recognition image biometric in the British Passport book from 2005. This facial biometric will be stored on the passport database. There are as yet no firm plans for driving licences to include biometric information although the driving licence database already stores digital photographs.
The passport and driving licence may be designated as ID cards under the draft Identity Cards Bill. In which case these documents may include additional biometrics, which would be stored on the new National Identity Register. However, no final decisions have yet been taken on which biometric or biometrics the identity cards scheme will use. The draft Identity Cards Bill allows for fingerprints and other forms of biometric information such as iris images to be recorded.

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an individual will have the right to see all the information contained on his or her entry in the National Identity Register under proposals in the draft Identity Cards Bill. [170817]

§ Mr. Browne
Clause 3 (1) of the draft Identity Cards Bill published on 26 April sets clear limits for the information that could be held on the National Identity Register. Schedule 1 lists the categories of information that may be held on the Register.
Individuals registered on the identity cards scheme would have subject access rights under the Data Protection Act 1998. In addition the Government will investigate whether it would be possible for a cardholder to use his card securely to access his own record to avoid the usual authorisation process and cost involved in applying for subject access. The Government will have to be satisfied that this could be achieved without compromising personal information, for example that another person could not use a stolen card to view another person's record on the National Identity Register.
Clause 14 (4) excludes information held in Schedule 1, paragraph 9 (records relating to disclosure of an entry) from being disclosed unless the Secretary of State deems it appropriate.