ID card reviews must be published

Tribunal rules that Gateway Review for controversial government scheme can be revealed - but OGC has 28 days to decide whether to appeal

The ID card Gateway Review process is under the spotlight

The Information Tribunal has upheld a decision by the Information Commissioner requiring Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to disclose its Gateway Reviews for the National Identity Scheme.

Gateway Reviews are designed to examine government projects at five stages in their progress to ensure they deliver the intended benefits and provide value for money.

The OGC has been consistently fighting the original Freedom of Information request to release the Gateway Reviews since it was made in January 2005, arguing that the candour of those assessing schemes would be adversely affected if they knew their decision-making process could be made public.

No Gateway Review reports have ever been published.

The OGC has 28 days to decide whether to appeal the decision in the High Court or disclose the information.

Steve Wood, assistant information commissioner, said: "In our view disclosing the traffic light status and the additional review content for this particular case will not discourage future cooperation by those providing information to the OGC."

But the Information Tribunal emphasised that its decision does not set a precedent for the future publication of Gateway Reviews, and only applied to the pros and cons of this particular case.

"Neither the Commissioner nor the Tribunal believes that all Gateway Reviews should be disclosed. This decision applies only to the two Gateway Reviews which have been requested to be disclosed," its judgement said.

Privacy campaigners will welcome the decision.

The Information Tribunal made clear in its decision that publishing the reviews would go some way to restoring public confidence in the transparency of the IT procurement process for central government.

"In the Tribunal’s view, disclosure of the requested information would clearly add to the public’s knowledge in this respect and therefore to the public interest which sought to ensure that schemes as complex albeit as sensitive as the ID Cards Scheme were properly scrutinised and implemented," says the Tribunal's report.

An OGC spokesman said: "The Information Tribunal has made clear that its decision refers only to this specific request and does not set any precedent. We are currently assessing the detail of the Information Tribunal’s decision and will respond in full in due course."