New data plan at Passport Service

The UK Passport Service (UKPS) is planning a datawarehouse to supplement its database of passport holders and support cross-government information-sharing.

The project is the latest in a succession of database programmes planned by different government bodies.

The new UKPS system will be populated with identification data from the existing 'Pass' database and will be used for the agency's wider initiatives such as supporting future transactional systems, fraud prevention and data-sharing, says the agency.

'The warehouse won't replace Pass, it is supplementary,' said a UKPS spokesman.

'The idea is it will contain the sort of information more usable for a greater variety of things. We are re-organising information that is already held so we can use it more efficiently.'

Plans to use the Pass database to support the introduction of national ID cards were scrapped because of concerns about quality. But UKPS information, held in the new datawarehouse, will be used to verify the enrolment process.

Computing's Data Debate campaign is calling for a review of the multiple government databases currently planned including the central register for ID cards, the NHS data spine, the digitised electoral roll and the Citizen Information Project.

None of the plans is necessarily a bad idea, but a cross-government appraisal is needed to avoid duplication, inconsistencies and potential data protection issues.

'Amid so much parallel re-organisation, you have to raise questions about whether there is a strategic grip over the government's IT projects,' said Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten.

Potential suppliers are being invited to bid for the contract to design, build and operate the UKPS datawarehouse.