The technology procurement for the national identity card scheme is expected to begin imminently, following the bill’s approval by both Houses of Parliament last week.

The new law will initiate one of the UK’s largest civil IT procurements, expected to be worth more than £6bn.

It will include the creation of the central identity register, and systems for issuing and checking identity cards.

Bidding for technology deals was not able to start before the bill was passed, but with the legislation now in place, the industry is readying itself for action.

‘Everyone is starting to focus on ID cards and the word on the street is it will start as soon as possible, and the procurement will be run as fast as possible to try to catch up the time lost in the past couple of months,’ said an industry source.

The legislation also establishes the Identity and Passport Service, which will be responsible for the technical implementation and administration of the scheme.

The bill was originally expected to be passed last spring but was delayed by the General Election. It was held up again this year, with three rejections by peers over concerns including costs and when cards will be mandatory.

According to the current plan, from 2008 people renewing passports will be registered on

the central database for the ID scheme, but will be able to opt out of having the card. Cards are likely to be mandatory from 2010.

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