§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will name the consortia bidding to act as prime contractors for the automated benefit payment scheme; when he will make a final decision on the contract; who will be the first group to receive the card; and when the system will become fully operational. [11752]
§ Mr. HealdThe final three shortlisted service providers are; Cardlink, UK, IBM and Pathway. Subject to a successful completion of the procurement process, we expect to award a contract by late spring. Our current planning assumption is that the first group to be issued with a benefit payment card will be child benefit customers, although this may be subject to change. It is expected that the first payments by card will be made in the autumn with full roll-out taking up to three years from that date.
§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the proposed social security smart card will bear a photograph of the claimant and have a memory capacity. [14862]
§ Mr. HealdThe card technology and security features are a matter for the supplier under the private finance initiative.
Decisions will not be finalised until a successful supplier is chosen. It is not mandatory for the initial version to be a smart card, but there will be provision to migrate to a smart card technology in the future if required.