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17/01/2006
ID cards scheme sees defeat in House of Lords
The government has stated that it will be proceeding with its plans for ID cards, despite the proposal receiving a defeat on three separate counts in the House of Lords last night.
The latest blow to the scheme came when peers voted to block it on the basis that the full costs of introducing the cards was not yet known. The Lords also voted for a more secure method of registering personal data, and for greater controls regarding access to any information stored as part of the scheme.
This latest blow comes after a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) stated that the Home Office has underestimated the true costs of introducing the cards. Ministers speaking last night for the government said costs could not be detailed at this stage as this would hamper getting a good deal at the tenders stage, but numerous peers complained that such reluctance to disclose the true amount was ‘unconstitutional’.
Home Office estimates have pegged the scheme’s annual running costs at around £584m, with a combined identity card and biometric passport costing £93. However, the LSE claims that the costs could weigh in at between £10b and £19b over 10 years, if the proposals, as they stand, are put in place.
Ian Angell, Head of the LSE Department of Information Systems, said: “Contradictions, guesswork and wishful thinking on the part of the Home Office make a mockery of any pretence that this scheme is based on serious reasoning.”
The government will seek to overcome the defeat when the Bill returns to the Commons later this year.
(CL/GB)
The latest blow to the scheme came when peers voted to block it on the basis that the full costs of introducing the cards was not yet known. The Lords also voted for a more secure method of registering personal data, and for greater controls regarding access to any information stored as part of the scheme.
This latest blow comes after a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) stated that the Home Office has underestimated the true costs of introducing the cards. Ministers speaking last night for the government said costs could not be detailed at this stage as this would hamper getting a good deal at the tenders stage, but numerous peers complained that such reluctance to disclose the true amount was ‘unconstitutional’.
Home Office estimates have pegged the scheme’s annual running costs at around £584m, with a combined identity card and biometric passport costing £93. However, the LSE claims that the costs could weigh in at between £10b and £19b over 10 years, if the proposals, as they stand, are put in place.
Ian Angell, Head of the LSE Department of Information Systems, said: “Contradictions, guesswork and wishful thinking on the part of the Home Office make a mockery of any pretence that this scheme is based on serious reasoning.”
The government will seek to overcome the defeat when the Bill returns to the Commons later this year.
(CL/GB)
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