Treasury pulls in different direction over ID card technology timetable

Whitehall departments may not agree on the role of the IT infrastructure

Treasury report to recommend quick roll out

Different parts of Whitehall have opposing views on the role of technology in establishing the identity card scheme, according to insiders.

The procurement, originally scheduled for October 2005, has only just begun, but the timetable for rolling out biometric identity cards to citizens remains largely unchanged.

Identity and Passport Service (IPS) chief executive James Hall said that cards will be issued gradually, giving both the technology and the physical processes time to settle in.

‘The intention is to start with small volumes but then scale up during 2010,’ said Hall.

However, the IPS plans are expected to be contradicted by a report by former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby on potential private sector involvement in the scheme. The report, commissioned by Gordon Brown, will be published later this year, and according to sources, Crosby will recommend that the scheme reaches a critical mass of citizens as soon as possible (Computing, 9 August).

But Hall warns that faster rollout will place an unnecessary strain on both budgetary planning and the physical enrolment infrastructure.

‘I agree with the point of view that if it is a worthwhile scheme then it is beneficial to implement it sooner rather than later,’ said Hall.

‘But the challenge is that if we enrol more people in a given year we need a bigger infrastructure to do it.

‘And it becomes important to find ways of driving down costs so we avoid a massive cost in a short period of time.’

Insiders say the different timescales point to a fundamental divergence between the IPS and Crosby’s Treasury team.

The IPS view is of a scheme defined by the technology implementation. But Crosby thinks that the cards can be rolled out quickly, relying on facial identification from photographs rather than having a full biometric technology infrastructure.

‘IPS hopes to proceed on the basis of a gold standard where-as Crosby is arguing for a silver standard ­ that is, drop in the technology incrementally but get cards out fast,’ said a source close to the programme.

‘It would be a way to get the scheme going without the full technology infrastructure.’