Clause 39
Verifying information provided
with passport applications etc.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Mr. Allan: It would be helpful to have a brief moment of clarification. Clause 39 potentially heralds a comprehensive change in the way that information provided for the purpose of applying for passports can be checked and cross-referenced with other Government Departments and agencies. I want it to be made clear that that is the purpose of the clause. The explanatory notes say that it echoes provisions under clause 11 under which such information is available for ID cards and the national identity card register. I want to be absolutely clear and make sure that we have on the record the fact that, when a person applies for a passport and regulations are brought in under the clause, there will be significant additional cross-checking with other Departments than that which currently takes place.
It is important as we consider the clauses that we can explore fully and precisely what they mean, so that citizens are aware of what they will do and, when we reach our final judgment on the Bill, we will know about all the changes that will take place. The clause is significant in that the passport procedure is one in which 80 per cent. of the population currently go through. People will want to know if, under the Bill, when they apply for a passport, cross checks will be made with other Departments about the information that they have supplied to the Passport Service.
5.45 pm
Mr. Browne: The hon. Gentleman is right in that the clause mirrors for passport applications the identity checking provisions for national identity register enrolment under clause 11. The provisions for passport applications will be brought into effect by clause 45(5) two months after Royal Assent by the same method as the previous clause that we considered. The genesis of the amendment lies in the Cabinet Office study on identity fraud that reported about 30 months ago. It recommended greater use of biographical checks on passport applications. Indeed, that recommendation has led to that method of checking being incorporated into the identity card scheme, rather than the ID system being devised for passports.
Concerns were expressed about passports and it was recommended that greater use of biographical checks be carried out. The UK Passport Service developed and introduced a large-scale pilot scheme for checking information provided by passport applications against public and private sector databases. The pilot has been running for a year in the Glasgow passport office and the next step will be to roll it out nationally for all adult first-time passport applications. It will then be used in conjunction with the interviews that I announced on 20 December to introduce the highest possible standard of identity authentication for adult first-time passport applications.
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The powers exercised by the Home Secretary under which the Crown issues passports already enable the collection of information from passport applicants to check their identity. The clause will put beyond doubt the ability of the UK Passport Service to approach other Government organisations to require them to check against their records and confirm to the UKPS whether or not the details in a given passport application match a genuine identity.
Mr. Allan: Will the Minister say whether the results of the Glasgow large-scale pilot scheme have been published or will be published, so that we can understand the extent to which it has revealed problems that the biographical checks have enabled to be resolved?
Mr. Browne: I regret that I am unable to give the hon. Gentleman a specific answer to his question. I will provide him and other members of the Committee with a response within days.
The clause also has the effect that requirements to provide information could be imposed on other persons specified in an order, which will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. Private organisations or credit reference agencies, for example, could be specified in such an order. The provisions of the clause are needed to enable the UKPS to protect the integrity and international acceptability of the British passport and to protect individuals from misuse of their identity.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 39 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 40
Amendments of legislation
relating to passports
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: Will the Minister answer one simple question? When a passport is withdrawn as a result of an offence under the Football Spectators Act 1989 and the identity card as a valid travel document is also withdrawn, how will the people involved access other Government services? If they cannot, the provision could be a real imposition. A solution to the problem is that presumably it would be possible to bar electronically the cards from exiting the country. How will the system work?
Mr. Browne: The hon. Gentleman has raised a reasonable point. In the event that, under the Football Spectators Act 1989 and the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, identity cards that are suitable for travel are surrendered as well as passports in connection with football orders, he is absolutely right. Those individuals will have to be allowed to have an identity card that allows them access to services if, indeed, that were necessary. Therefore there will need to be a non-travel variant of the ID card that can be issued to such people in those circumstances.
It may well be that technological advances mean that the issue of a non-travel variant of the ID card
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will not require an exchange of cards. The card may be disabled for international travel. However, that would depend on the ability of those countries in the European Union for which an ID will be used for travel to read a card that has been disabled in that way. It is likely that this situation will occur only when this country has e-borders; there will be embarkation controls and people will not be able to leave our country without the authorities knowing that their ID card used as a travel document has been disabled. The hon. Gentleman's comments are very sensible. Assuming that the technology allows for it, a non-travel variant of the ID card that is not acceptable for travel may not involve the exchange of cards.
This information may be of some interest to Committee members. We have been trialling an asylum seekers registration card that can be disabled in that way. The card can be disabled for payment of support if an asylum seeker fails to meet the conditions of reporting that are required for him or her. That suggests that such technology is available, but we will only know in the fullness of time whether it would be available on the scale that would be necessary for ID cards.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 40 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 41 to 44 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 45
Short title, repeals, commencement,
transitory provision and extent
Mr. Malins: I beg to move amendment No. 110, in page 38, line 9, after 'the', insert 'National Registration and'.
I could entertain the Committee for quite a long time on this amendment but I will not. I ask the Minister for a brief response to a brief introduction.
The Bill is about the database, rather than the card. The whole public discussion over the last year or two has centred on ID cards and excluded the database. As the debates have progressed it has become clear that the purpose of the Bill and many of its most worrying contents relate to the register and the information kept thereon. It would be a better reflection of the Bill if the title were not simply the ''Identity Cards Bill'' but something wider, such as the national registration and identity cards Bill.
Mr. Allan: I support the amendment. Many of the purposes that the Government wish to achieve will be done through the provisions of the national identity register. The ID cards are an optional extra. Once most of the population are equipped with biometric passports, the ID card will be functionally redundant. I suspect that, at some point in future, a rational decision will be taken not to issue a separate ID card; if someone has a biometric passport, they will be able to leave it at that and not bother with the ID card at all, because the two are functionally equivalent, assuming that the register is there. The title suggested by the hon. Member for Woking would stand the test of time better than the existing title, in respect of having an Act that does what it says on the
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box and that tells the public precisely what kind of innovation it is introducing.
Mr. Browne: Earlier in our deliberations I listened carefully to an exhortation by the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon to use language that people understand. It seems that the people of this country clearly understand identity cards. Indeed, interestingly enough, the identity card scheme of 1939 was introduced under the National Registration Act 1939. However, I pray in aid the logic of the right hon. Gentleman: how many people remember that distinction? How many of those who carried that card referred to their national registration card, and not their ID card?
I have some sympathy for the argument of the hon. Member for Woking, and I understand the logic of his suggestion. However, the process involved an earlier consultation, and the response from the public made it perfectly clear that they understood the concept of identity cards. Now it would appear that they also understand the concept of the register to support the cards. It would be unnecessarily confusing for us to change at this stage in the debate. Much as I accept that the hon. Gentleman's argument is persuasive, I cannot be persuaded by it, and I resist the amendment.
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