Tuesday 06th November 2008
In a speech at the Social Market Foundation today (6th November 2008), the Home Secretary set out progress on the delivery of identity cards and action taken in response to issues raised by the public.
The wider scheme will start with the introduction of identity cards for foreign nationals from 25 November 2008.
The Home Secretary also announced that she will be commissioning further work to explore how a small number of British nationals could reap the benefits of identity cards early by making applications in advance of the official launch date.
The announcement also sets out how the Government has listened to the public, and responded to the views raised in the consultation following publication of the Government's National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan in March 2008. To help people understand what the Scheme will do for them we have also published the first guide for the public: Introducing the National Identity Scheme.
Alongside our response we are unveiling for the first time the remit of the National Identity Scheme Commissioner who will look after the public's interests and will scrutinise the way the Scheme is implemented and how identity cards are used by both public and private sectors.
Also today the Home Secretary named Manchester and London City Airports as the airport operators who will be part of the first phase of the identity cards rollout for UK nationals. For the aviation industry a single, secure way of proving identity will deliver real benefits to employers, employees and the public by bringing faster, cheaper and more joined-up pre-employment and security checking processes.
The Home Secretary revealed plans to engage with business and other organisations to explore how biometric enrolment could be provided in high streets and other locations more convenient to customers. This included the launch of a prospectus for business outlining a vision for the creation of a biometric enrolment market.
Finally the latest cost report is published today in Parliament showing over the next ten years the cost of setting up and running the UK scheme is £4,785 million while the foreign national scheme will cost £326m.
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