ID cards face delays and security concerns

Problems continue to dog the government's controversial identity (ID) card scheme despite its winning a crucial Commons vote on the scheme.

Less than 24 hours after heading off a potential back bench rebellion, the Home Office admitted the length of the parliamentary process has meant the scheme is already behind schedule with the first cards now not expected until 2009, a year later than scheduled.

Reports claimed the government has also already paid PA Consulting £32m for its role in setting the specifications and developing the feasibility tests and procurement processes.

The government's long running row with the London School of Economics over its report into the cost of the ID card scheme also showed few signs of ending after one of the report's authors, Dr Brian Gladman, again criticised the security of the proposed system.

In a letter to Tony Blair issued before the decisive vote, Dr Gladman, a former head of research and development for information system security at the Ministry of Defence, warned the proposed plans for a central national identity registry represent "a security risk for all those whose details are held on the system".

Professor Ian Angell of the LSE added that a central database would be particularly vulnerable to attack from hackers who would regard breaching the system as a "gold medal" and warned expensive back up systems would also be required to mitigate against the risk of data corruption.