Home secretary pushes ahead with ID cards

Smith: "Carrying on regardless"

Home secretary Jacqui Smith has defied critics to press ahead with ID card proposals, confirming that residents of Greater Manchester will be the first British citizens able to apply for them later this year.

A small number of volunteers in Manchester will be offered the chance to enroll before the end of the year. The Identity and Passport Service (IPA) says the city was chosen because of its high ratio of young people, a group identified as gaining significant advantages from the cards.

Young people in the city will be offered ID cards from 2010, after which they will become generally available in the city and from 2011-12 they will be rolled out to the wider population on a voluntary basis, Smith said yesterday.

"Our next steps will be for other cities to follow Manchester's lead before full national coverage from 2012," she said.

"This phased approach will ensure that card coverage occurs hand in hand with the development of supporting technology such as chip-and-PIN readers."

And in a speech to the CBI this morning, Smith announced that high street retailers the Post Office and pharmacies such as Boots had expressed an interest in providing the fingerprinting and photography services required for enrollment in the National Identity Scheme.

"While private companies will clearly benefit from the increased footfall from offering this service, their customers will benefit from being able to quickly provide their biometrics while out doing the shopping," she said.

So far Thales, CSC and IBM have won contracts to supply parts of the scheme. Fujitsu and EDS are also on the shortlist and can bid for further contracts expected to be awarded over the next year.

The Home Office estimates the National Identity Scheme will cost £5.4bn over the next 10 years and argues that 70 per cent of these costs would be needed to support new passport systems regardless.

IPS chief executive James Hall has launched a new online facility for those interested in applying for a card on a visit to the city, available on government information site Directgov.

Lord Peter Smith, chair of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, said: “We believe that citizens of Greater Manchester will welcome the chance to get an identity card early if they want one to help them prove their identity conveniently and securely.”

Foreign nationals are due to have their cards by November. All cards will initially cost £30.

Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the government is split on ID cards but accused Smith of "carrying on regardless".

There had been some speculation that the scheme would be slowed down as both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have said they would scrap ID cards should they win an election, which is due next year.