Posted July 9, 200619 yr ID cards doomed, say officials The Sunday Times TONY BLAIR’S flagship identity cards scheme is set to fail and may not be introduced for a generation, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails from the senior officials responsible for the multi-billion-pound project. The problems are so serious that ministers have been forced to draw up plans for a scaled-down “face-saving†version to meet their pledge of phasing in the cards from 2008. However, civil servants say there is no evidence that even this compromise is “remotely feasible†and accuse ministers of “ignoring reality†by pressing ahead. One official warns of a “botched operation†that could put back the introduction of ID cards for a generation. He added: “I conclude that we are setting ourselves up to fail.†Another admits he is planning Home Office strategy around the possibility that the scheme could be “canned completelyâ€. In one e-mail the prime minister is personally blamed for the fiasco with his proposal for a scaled-down or “early variant†version. “It was a Mr Blair apparently who wanted the ‘early variant’ card. Not my idea,†writes a top Home Office civil servant. The e-mails expose another crisis for John Reid, the home secretary, who has already labelled his department as “not fit for purpose†following the recent foreign prisoners scandal. The correspondence has been leaked by a senior official close to the Treasury. He acknowledges that the documents will infuriate ministers because they contradict the government’s public statements on ID cards. Blair has repeatedly trumpeted the scheme as a centrepiece of the government’s efforts to combat terrorism, illegal immigration and crime. Ministers have rounded on critics who say the government has underestimated the cost and complexity of the technology. Last year ministers rubbished claims by the London School of Economics that the scheme was too unwieldy and would cost as much as £19 billion, compared with the government’s estimate of £6 billion. The government proposes that all Britain’s 50m adults will eventually carry the cards, which will include biometric data such as digitally encoded fingerprints or iris scans that could be checked against a huge database. The cards are to be introduced voluntarily from 2008 but, if re-elected, Labour proposes to make them compulsory for everyone over 16. The e-mail correspondence last month was between Peter Smith, acting commercial director at the Identity and Passport Service, the Home Office agency set up to bring in the cards, and David Foord, the ID card project director at the Office of Government Commerce, which is responsible for vetting the project to ensure that the Treasury gets value for taxpayers’ money. They reveal that the government is “rethinking†the entire scheme with an alternative “face-saving†compromise, which Smith blames on Blair. This “early variant†plan appears to involve collecting and storing biometric data on a temporary ID register but makes no mention of actually using it on cards. However, officials doubt that this will work. Foord writes: “Just because ministers say do something does not mean we ignore reality — which is what seems to have happened on ID cards until [the contracts were due] to be issued and then reality could not be ignored any longer.†He adds: “Even if everything went perfectly (which it will not) it is very debatable (given performance of government IT projects) whether whatever [the register] turns out to be (and that is a worry in itself) can be procured, delivered, tested and rolled out in just over two years and whether the resources exist within government and industry to run two overlapping procurements. “What benchmark in the Home Office do we have that suggests that this is even remotely feasible? I conclude that we are setting ourselves up to fail.†He reveals that the contracts for the ID card scheme are under threat because of “the amount of rethinking going on about identity managementâ€. He also says they are “[un]affordableâ€; “lack clear benefits from which to demonstrate a return on investmentâ€; and suffer from a “very serious shortage of appropriately qualified staffâ€. Foord says: “I do not have a problem with ministers wanting a face-saving solution but we need to be clear with . . . senior officials, special advisers and ministers just what this implies.†He then warns of a “botched introduction†of the scheme, adding: “If it is subject to a media feeding frenzy, which it might well be close to a general election, [it] could put back the introduction of ID cards for a generation and won’t do much for IPS credibility nor for the government’s election chances.†Acknowledging these concerns, Smith says his IPS agency is planning around the possibility that the entire protect will fail. In a June 8 e-mail he writes: “We are designing the strategy so that [other contracts such as a contact centre for passport queries] are all sensible and viable contracts in their own right EVEN IF the ID card gets canned completely.†In public, ministers have so far given no hint of any private fears about the viability of the scheme. But senior officials admit privately that the Home Office has abandoned its timetable for introducing cards. Foord writes: “This has all the inauspicious signs of a project continuing to be driven by an arbitrary end date rather than reality. The early variant idea introduces huge risk on many levels.†The problems in designing a workable system have meant a delay until March 2007 in putting out contracts to tender to private companies to build and manage the scheme. They had been due this summer. Another official involved in the project said: “Nobody expects this programme to work. It is basically on hold while ministers rethink their options. It’s impossible to imagine the full scheme being brought in before 2026.†The disclosures will be seized on by critics who say it is too expensive, unworkable and a breach of privacy. The Tories plan to scrap the cards and use the money to build prisons. Simon Davies, a member of the LSE team that said costs could rise to £19 billion, said the rethink was “a vindication of all the concerns we have expressed about the costs and viability†of the scheme. Last night the Home Office said it remained committed to an ID card scheme but had always maintained its introduction would be an “incremental†process. The cards are expected to cost about £93, which each citizen must pay when getting a new passport from 2010.
July 15, 200619 yr Hope they never come in.I don't object having one if they were free. Free at first then chargable when compulsory around 2008. Costs some have said to my memoery around £200 or more.
July 16, 200619 yr Free at first then chargable when compulsory around 2008. Costs some have said to my memoery around £200 or more. Fukk that.... <_< All it's gonna take is for enough people to tell the Govt to fukk off just like with the Poll Tax... What they gonna do..? Jail one million+ people...?
July 16, 200619 yr Fukk that.... <_ all it gonna take is for enough people to tell the govt fukk off just like with poll tax... what they do.. jail one million people...> It's not going to be every year of course, they will last for many years, maybe like a passport perhaps.
July 16, 200619 yr Good, hope they don't come in because I DEFINITELY wouldn't have one no matter what they say :rolleyes: I personally value my privacy. -_-
August 2, 200618 yr What's the big deal with photographic ID?......our driving licences in NI have had photos on them for years!!! And we even need them (or a passport) to travel to mainland UK, letalone anywhere foreign!! What I don't agree with is the "estimated" £93 charge!!! If they want people to carry these then at least make them free!!!
August 2, 200618 yr What's the big deal with photographic ID?......our driving licences in NI have had photos on them for years!!! And we even need them (or a passport) to travel to mainland UK, letalone anywhere foreign!! What I don't agree with is the "estimated" £93 charge!!! If they want people to carry these then at least make them free!!! Really? :o You have to have a passport to travel around the country?! :lol:
August 2, 200618 yr If the government supply them for free then fine I will have one but if I am expected to pay they can bugger off
August 2, 200618 yr What's the big deal with photographic ID?......our driving licences in NI have had photos on them for years!!! And we even need them (or a passport) to travel to mainland UK, letalone anywhere foreign!! What I don't agree with is the "estimated" £93 charge!!! If they want people to carry these then at least make them free!!! Nothing wrong with photograhpic ID but some of the things stored electronically onto it and the way it'll apparently make a transaction when you use and just about EVERYTHING to do with it is just an invasion of everyone's privacy and the country will LITERALLY be like Big Brother. -_-
August 3, 200618 yr What's the big deal with photographic ID?......our driving licences in NI have had photos on them for years!!! And we even need them (or a passport) to travel to mainland UK, letalone anywhere foreign!! What I don't agree with is the "estimated" £93 charge!!! If they want people to carry these then at least make them free!!! There's a bit more to it than it just being a Photographic ID system. I've got no problems with an ID card with just a photo on it (I already have several of these - my passport, my bankcard and my old University ID card..); where I do have a problem however is that these ID cards will involve having your DNA, retina scan and your fingerprints on them (hence the rather huge costs involved). I have no faith in this Govt (or any Govt really...) whatsoever that they would not totally abuse a national DNA database scheme, nor do I have any faith that this incompetent Govt would actually be able to manage said system efficiently or effectively; the Home Office cant even get the Asylum, criminal justice (just HOW many innocent people is it now that these fukkin' clowns have wrongly given criminal records to...? <_< ) or Immigration system right, what hope is there that they could manage the biometric details of 40-50 million people properly. And this is even before we get into issues of rights to privacy or Human Rights in general... And I dont buy the reasons for it either. I dont really see how a national ID system could actually combat fraud or general criminality to be honest (the crooks have already found ways to get round the so-called "fraud-proof" banks "Chip and Pin" system, so I see no reason why any clever crooks wouldnt be able to get round this as well..); and I dont see how the hell it's gonna stop some random nutter blowing themselves up on a bus either (Spain has a national ID system, it didnt stop the Madrid bombing from happening). So, when you strip this away, just what is the bloody point in spending about £200 (which is what they're saying it's gonna cost now....) on something that just aint gonna be as effective as the Govt claims....?
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