£650m ID cards contracts awarded to CSC and IBM

IBM will run biometrics database while CSC will deliver new passport and ID card application systems

The Home Office is moving forward with ID cards

Home secretary Jacqui Smith has announced that IBM and CSC have won £650m-worth of contracts to deliver IT systems to support the controversial identity cards scheme.

IBM has been awarded a £265m deal to build the biometrics database to support ID cards and passports, while CSC has been given a £385m deal to upgrade the application and enrolment system.

As well as improving the passport application service, the announcements are a major step towards the introduction of ID cards.

Smith said the UK passport will be made even more secure against fraud by the improvements.

“ID cards and passports with fingerprint and facial biometrics will provide a safe and secure way of protecting personal details and proving identity," she said.

“Our passport is already respected across the world as a gold standard for travel documents - these improvements will further help protect our borders.”

As well as building the biometrics database as part of the national identity register, IBM will provide a replacement for the UK Border Agency’s Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System, which holds biometrics collected from visa applicants.

CSC will provide a new system for processing applications for both passports and ID cards including the ability for people to apply online, improved background checking systems, and new IT and telephony systems for the Identity and Passport Service.

The contract replaces a number of existing agreements with Siemens, Atos, Sagem and others.

James Hall, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said the selection process had been rigorous.

“IBM and CSC have shown they are superbly placed to deliver these large projects and we are delighted they are working with us,” he said.

Foreign nationals are already being issued with ID cards and from the autumn staff working airside at Manchester and London City airports will be issued with cards as part of the first phase of the rollout to UK citizens.

From 2011 the government will introduce passports and voluntary ID cards with chips containing biometrics that will be checked against the IBM database, though the Conservatives have promised to scrap ID cards should they win the next general election.

In August 2008 Thales UK was awarded an £18m, three-year contract to deliver the first ID cards to airside workers and volunteers starting in autumn this year.

The Identity and Passport Service will issue two further contracts this year - one for card design and production for the wider rollout of the scheme, and one to develop and produce the new generation of biometric passports.

The Identity and Passport Service's Hall also told the BBC that the agency is talking to the financial services industry about the addition of chip and PIN to the cards.

Adding chips would mean the cards could be used at ATMs in the future and also help holders to "assert their identities" online to tackle ID fraud.