Procurement
214. The Government's record on large-scale IT projects
is not encouraging. Some critics, such as Professor Thomas, representing
the UK Computing Research Committee, believed that the difficulties
inherent in a public procurement project of this scale were insuperable.
He also argued that penalty clauses can only guard against financial
loss, and not against the unavailability of a public service.
The Home Office said however that their adherence to the Office
of Government Commerce's Gateway Review system provided reassurance;
Intellect believed, based on their two years of work with the
Home Office on the issues, that the Home Office had a better understanding
of the capabilities of the technology. Other witnesses from the
IT industry were unanimous about the importance of taking decisions
about the infrastructure and the basic shape of the system early
on. Mr Haddock, of LaserCard, held up the process followed by
the Italian government as a model:
"it was about four years of planning and
now, just in the last year, they have really starting issuing
the card. The procurement process started in what they called
the Experimental Phase because they had a group of 40 companies
and government agencies who were providing input to them and from
that they asked that same group to do a pilot programme of two
hundred thousand cards to learn how well it worked and adjust
to specifications and so forth. From that they started putting
out procurements for sections of the system, not the whole system."[172]
On 26 May the Home Office announced the choice of
PA Consulting as its private sector development partner, to help
determine the best way of designing and implementing the scheme.
The company will work on the design, feasibility testing, business
case and procurement elements of the identity cards programme.[173]
215. We welcome the Home Office's efforts to overcome
their record on IT procurement. We do not believe that it is impossible
for them to deliver the project on time, to specification and
to cost.
216. But we are concerned about the closed nature
of the procurement process which allows little public or technical
discussion of the design of the system or the costings involved.
We do not believe that issues of commercial confidentiality justify
this approach. Any potential gains from competing providers providing
innovative design solutions are likely to be more than offset
by the unanticipated problems that will arise from designs that
have not been subject to technical and peer scrutiny.
217. Nor do we believe that the Government's OGC
Gateway process has yet demonstrated the robust track record on
procurement projects that would allow it to be relied upon for
a project of this scale.
218. The Home Office must develop an open procurement
policy, on the basis of system and card specifications that are
publicly assessed and agreed. The Home Office should also seek
to minimise risk, including, as appropriate, by breaking the procurement
process down into manageable sections. We have already recommended
that the Chief Scientific Officer be invited to oversee the development
of the biometric elements of the scheme. We recommend that individuals
or groups with similar expertise be invited to advise on the scrutiny
of other aspects of the scheme.
Conclusions
219. Identity cards should not be ruled out on
grounds of principle alone: the question is whether they are proportionate
to the aims they are intended to achieve. Identity cards could
make a significant impact on a range of problems, and could benefit
individuals through enabling easier use of a range of public services.
This justifies, in principle, the introduction of the Government's
scheme. But the Government's proposals are poorly thought out
in key respects: in relation to the card itself, to procurement
and to the relationship of the proposals to other aspects of government,
including the provision of public services. These issues must
be addressed if the proposals are to be taken forward. It is important
that the Government clarifies the purposes of the scheme and makes
them clear through legislation.
220. We now examine the draft Bill in the light of
these general conclusions.
45 Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud, Cm
5557 Back
46
HC Deb, 11 November 2003, col 171 Back
47
Identity cards: The Next Steps, Cm 6020 Back
48
Q 609 Back
49
Note to Q 146 Back
50
Qq 179 and 836 Back
51
Home Office, Legislation on Identity Cards: A Consultation,
Cm 6178, April 2004, para 2.72, p 29 Back
52
Ev 199; under section 8 of the 1996 Act employers are required
to check eligibility to work; there is a range of documents which
can be shown as proof. Back
53
Ev 273 Back
54
Qq 184-185 Back
55
Home Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2003-04, Asylum
Applications, HC 218-I para 247 Back
56
Q 613 Back
57
Q 612 Back
58
Home Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2003-04, Asylum
Applications, HC 218-I para 75 Back
59
Q 616 Back
60
Q 16 Back
61
Ev 149 Back
62
Q 618 Back
63
Ev 149 Back
64
Ev 239 Back
65
Q 274 Back
66
Ev 240 Back
67
HC Deb, 29 April 2004, col 1300W Back
68
HC Deb 25 May 2004, col 1554W Back
69
Privacy International, Mistaken Identity; Exploring the Relationship
Between National Identity Cards & the Prevention of Terrorism,
April 2004, www.privacyinternational.org Back
70
Q 618 Back
71
Cabinet Office, Identity Fraud :a study, July 2002, para
2.17 Back
72
Ev 150 Back
73
Ev 191 Back
74
Ev 200 Back
75
Q 549 Back
76
Q 823 Back
77
Ev 271 Back
78
Q 548 Back
79
Ev 173 Back
80
Q 539 Back
81
SP OR 13 November 2003, col 3254 Back
82
See para 184 for this and other card schemes. Back
83
Ev 258-259 Back
84
Official Record of the National Assembly for Wales, 2 December
2003, OAQ30113, p 11 Back
85
Ev 270 Back
86
HC Deb, 16 June 2004, col 965W Back
87
Ev 201 Back
88
Q 570 Back
89
Q 571 Back
90
Ev 188 Back
91
Q 315 Back
92
Q 312 Back
93
www.yougov.com Back
94
www.detica.com Back
95
www.privacyinternational.org Back
96
Q 626 Back
97
Ev 215 Back
98
Ev 222 Back
99
Q 210 Back
100
Ev 203 Back
101
Q 693 Back
102
Ev 285 Back
103
Ev 308 Back
104
Q 6 Back
105
Q 98 Back
106
Ev 307-308 Back
107
Ev 272 Back
108
Ev 240 Back
109
Q 834 Back
110
Q 161 Back
111
Q 845 Back
112
Ev 299; PFC explain "Transsexual people identify themselves
as members of the sex opposite to that assigned at birth, and
may undergo medical treatment known as gender reassignment. Transgender
is a broader term that includes people temporarily changing their
gender and appearance as well as transsexual people. These terms
are not precise, so PFC uses the broad adjective trans to cover
men and women in both categories". Back
113
Q 422 Back
114
Q 426 Back
115
Q 462 Back
116
Q 340 Back
117
Qq 424 and 429 Back
118
Qq 418 and 428 Back
119
Q 204 Back
120
Q 167 Back
121
Q 186 Back
122
Q 187 Back
123
Ev 314 Back
124
Q 748 Back
125
Ev 187 Back
126
Q 46 Back
127
Q 250 Back
128
Q 835 Back
129
Q 756 Back
130
Q 348 Back
131
Q 347 Back
132
Ev 199 Back
133
Q 628 Back
134
Tony Mansfield and Marek Rejman-Greene, Feasibility Study on
the Use of Biometrics in an Entitlement Scheme, National Physical
Laboratory, 2003, p3, www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/identitycards/publications.html Back
135
US General Accounting Office, Technology Assessment: Using
Biometrics for Border Security, GAO-03-174, November 2002,
www.gao.gov Back
136
Q 379 Back
137
Q 671 Back
138
Q 839 Back
139
Office for National Statistics, Civil Registration: Delivering
Vital Change, July 2003 Back
140
Office for National Statistics, Civil Registration: Vital Change,
Cm 5355, January 2002 Back
141
Ev 245 Back
142
Ev 246 Back
143
Q 511 Back
144
Q 531 Back
145
Ev 247 Back
146
Q 607 Back
147
DoH press release 2003/0502, 8 December 2003 Back
148
Q 98 Back
149
Ev 269 Back
150
Memorandum from Nigel Sedgwick [not printed] Back
151
Q 612 Back
152
Ev 308 Back
153
Memorandum from Electronic Data Systems [not printed] Back
154
Q 430 Back
155
Q 432 Back
156
Q 499 Back
157
Q 501 Back
158
Qq 576 and 580-81 and Ev 175 Back
159
Q 245 Back
160
Qq 245 and 295 Back
161
Ev 300 Back
162
Ev 308 Back
163
Q 391 Back
164
Q 397 Back
165
Q 357 Back
166
Home Office, Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud: A Consultation
Paper, Cm 5557, July 2002, p 141 Back
167
Q 93 Back
168
Q 637 Back
169
Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment,
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/ria-guidance Back
170
Ev 309 Back
171
Ev 316 Back
172
Q 458 Back
173
"ID cards-Home Secretary announces private sector partner"
Home Office press release 196/2004, 24 May 2004 Back