HC Deb 22 June 2004 vol 422 cc1368-70W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether making identity cards compulsory is a matter requiring primary legislation. [177923]

Mr. Browne

The draft Identity Cards Bill published on 26 April includes a provision which would require the Government to justify, by way of a formal report tabled before both Houses, the reasons for setting a date by when it would be a requirement to register with the scheme. Clause 7 of the Bill requires that any compulsion order laid before Parliament must be consistent with the views approved by both Houses on the Government's proposition for compulsion.

The Government believe that the process set out in the draft Bill provides the right level of assurance for Parliament that any move to compulsion will be properly justified and fully debated at the time.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how clear public acceptance of the identity card scheme will be measured. [177925]

Mr. Browne

Before the decision to move to compulsion, we would want to be confident that there is clear public acceptance for the principle of compulsion. We are already undertaking work with focus groups and public polling to determine levels of public support for the identity cards scheme. How exactly we will judge public acceptance of compulsion has yet to be finalised. Clause 7 of the draft Identity Cards Bill provides that before a draft Order for compulsion is laid, the Secretary of State must prepare and publish a report setting out the reasons for compulsion.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his response is to QinetiQ's recommendation that identity cards should remain voluntary. [177929]

Mr. Browne

The Government have made clear that it is planning to build the base for a compulsory national identity cards scheme, but that this will be in two stages. The first will be linked to the designation of existing documents. The second stage move to compulsion would require full debate and a vote in both Houses of Parliament. The Government would only take this step after a rigorous evaluation of the first stage. In particular we would want to be confident that the scheme had rolled out to a significant coverage of the population and the Government were satisfied that the conditions set out in Identity Cards: the Next Steps (Cm 6020) were met.

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether women who choose to wear the veil in public are to be required to show their face in photographs in the proposed identity cards. [178249]

Mr. Browne

The exact format of the identity card, including the requirement for a photograph, will be set out in regulations. We expect that these regulations will be in line with those currently in place for passports and driving licence photographs, exercising discretion as far as possible regarding head coverings due to religious beliefs or ethnic background. However, the over-riding rule, set by international standards for travel documents, is that the applicant's photograph should show a full face and that all features should be clearly distinguishable.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it will be compulsory for foreign nationals, including EU nationals, to have identity cards if they are in the UK for longer than three months from the outset of the scheme. [178890]

Mr. Browne

When the scheme comes into operation, it is the Government's intention that foreign nationals, including those from the EU, who come to the UK will be required to register when they have been here for three months. They will then be issued with one of the "family" of ID cards.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the identity card will have a federated IT architecture; and if he will make a statement on the uses enabled by this type of system. [178894]

Mr. Browne

No decisions have been taken on the architecture of the IT systems which will support the identity cards scheme. The IT architecture will support the uses of the scheme, set out in the draft Identity Cards Bill, namely the secure identification and enrolment of people on the National Identity Register and the provision of a service which will allow organisations to verify people's identity with their consent. The architecture will also support the disclosure of information to specified persons for specified purposes without the consent of the registered person.