29/01/2009

ID Card Benefits 'Will Be Delivered Soon', Says Home Secretary

Work is underway to identify a number of areas across the UK where British nationals can be among the first to apply for an identity card, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced when she visited Manchester today.

Further details of plans to introduce the first voluntary identity cards for the general public this autumn were revealed during her visit to meet with young people and the city's business and community leaders.

At a speech in Manchester Town Hall she emphasised the benefits identity cards will bring for the region and the country and set out the progress made in delivering the cards. Building on a commitment made in November she expanded on plans to make a limited number of the cards available early from this autumn.

While in Manchester the Home Secretary visited Newall Green High School in Wythenshawe to meet young people who could be some of the first to be able to apply for cards from 2010. Together they discussed how identity cards will help young people strike out on their own by opening their first bank account, renting their first flat, or perhaps travelling to Europe for the first time.

The Home Secretary said: "Identity cards are already a reality and thanks to Manchester Airport's agreement to work with us, the city is leading the way in their roll-out.

"As the cards become more widely available the whole country will see real benefits for citizens, businesses and the country by giving a convenient and secure proof of identity that locks people to one identity."

ID cards are already a reality for foreign nationals with work underway to issue more than 50,000 by April this year, helping show clearly whether non-EEA residents have the right to work and live in the UK.

Starting in autumn this year the first identity cards for airside workers will be issued at Manchester and London City airports, which have agreed to take part in an 18 month evaluation of the benefits the Service will bring the aviation industry.

From 2010 young people can apply for the card and from 2012 the National Identity Service will begin to roll-out identity cards for the general population in significant numbers.

See: Foreign National ID Cards Unveiled

(JM/BMcC)

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