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Other Bills before Parliament

Identity Cards Bill


Identity Cards Bill

1

 

A

Bill

[AS AMENDED IN STANDING COMMITTEE D]

To

Make provision for a national scheme of registration of individuals and for the

issue of cards capable of being used for identifying registered individuals; to

make it an offence for a person to be in possession or control of an identity

document to which he is not entitled, or of apparatus, articles or materials for

making false identity documents; to amend the Consular Fees Act 1980; to

make provision facilitating the verification of information provided with an

application for a passport; and for connected purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and

consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present

Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Registration

1       

The National Identity Register

(1)   

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a register

of individuals (to be known as “the National Identity Register”).

(2)   

The purposes for which the Register is to be established and maintained are

5

confined to the statutory purposes.

(3)   

The statutory purposes are to facilitate, by the maintenance of a record of

registrable facts about individuals in the United Kingdom—

(a)   

the provision of a convenient method for such individuals to prove

registrable facts about themselves to others; and

10

(b)   

the provision of a secure and reliable method for registrable facts about

such individuals to be ascertained or verified wherever that is

necessary in the public interest.

(4)   

For the purposes of this Act something is necessary in the public interest if, and

only if, it is—

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(a)   

in the interests of national security;

 
Bill 4954/1
 
 

Identity Cards Bill

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(b)   

for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime;

(c)   

for the purposes of the enforcement of immigration controls;

(d)   

for the purposes of the enforcement of prohibitions on unauthorised

working or employment; or

(e)   

for the purpose of securing the efficient and effective provision of

5

public services.

(5)   

In this Act “registrable fact”, in relation to an individual, means—

(a)   

his identity;

(b)   

where he resides in the United Kingdom;

(c)   

where he has previously resided in the United Kingdom and

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elsewhere;

(d)   

the times at which he was resident at different places in the United

Kingdom or elsewhere;

(e)   

his current residential status;

(f)   

residential statuses previously held by him;

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(g)   

information about numbers allocated to him for identification purposes

and about the documents to which they relate;

(h)   

information about occasions on which information recorded about him

in the Register has been provided to any person; and

(i)   

information recorded in the Register at his request.

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(6)   

In this section references to an individual’s identity are references to—

(a)   

his full name;

(b)   

other names by which he is or has previously been known;

(c)   

his gender;

(d)   

his date and place of birth and, if he has died, the date of his death; and

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(e)   

physical characteristics of his that are capable of being used for

identifying him.

(7)   

In this section “residential status”, in relation to an individual, means—

(a)   

his nationality;

(b)   

his entitlement to remain in the United Kingdom; and

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(c)   

where that entitlement derives from a grant of leave to enter or remain

in the United Kingdom, the terms and conditions of that leave.

2       

Individuals entered in Register

(1)   

An entry must be made in the Register for every individual who—

(a)   

is entitled to be entered in it; and

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(b)   

applies to be entered in it.

(2)   

The individuals entitled to be entered in the Register are—

(a)   

every individual who has attained the age of 16 and, without being

excluded under subsection (3) from an entitlement to be registered, is

residing at a place in the United Kingdom; and

40

(b)   

every individual of a prescribed description who has resided in the

United Kingdom or who is proposing to enter the United Kingdom.

(3)   

Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide that an individual

residing in the United Kingdom is excluded from an entitlement to be

registered if—

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Identity Cards Bill

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(a)   

he is residing in the United Kingdom in exercise of an entitlement to

remain there that will end less than the prescribed period after it was

acquired;

(b)   

he is an individual of a prescribed description who has not yet been

resident in the United Kingdom for the prescribed period; or

5

(c)   

he is residing in the United Kingdom despite having no entitlement to

remain there.

(4)   

An entry for an individual may be made in the Register (whether or not he has

applied to be, or is entitled to be, entered in it) if—

(a)   

information capable of being recorded in an entry for him is otherwise

10

available to be recorded; and

(b)   

the Secretary of State considers that the addition of the entry to the

Register would be consistent with the statutory purposes.

(5)   

An entry in the Register consisting of all the information recorded about an

individual must be given a unique number, to be known as his National

15

Identity Registration Number; and that number must comply with the

prescribed requirements.

(6)   

The Secretary of State may by order modify the age for the time being specified

in subsection (2)(a).

(7)   

The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without

20

other provision) any provision authorised by subsection (6) unless a draft of

the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each

House.

3       

Information recorded in Register

(1)   

The only information that may be recorded in the Register is—

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(a)   

information the inclusion of which in an individual’s entry is

authorised by Schedule 1;

(b)   

information of a technical nature for use in connection with the

administration of the Register;

(c)   

information of a technical nature for use in connection with the

30

administration of arrangements made for purposes connected with the

issue or cancellation of ID cards; and

(d)   

information recorded in the Register in accordance with subsection (2).

(2)   

Information about an individual must be recorded in his entry in the Register

(whether or not it is authorised by Schedule 1) if—

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(a)   

he has made an application to the Secretary of State requesting the

recording of the information as part of his entry;

(b)   

the information is of a description identified in regulations made by the

Secretary of State as a description of information that may be made the

subject of such a request; and

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(c)   

the Secretary of State considers that it is both practicable and

appropriate for it to be recorded in accordance with the applicant’s

request.

(3)   

Where—

(a)   

the Secretary of State and an individual have agreed on what is to be

45

recorded about a matter in that individual’s entry in the Register, and

 
 

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(b)   

the Secretary of State has given, and not withdrawn, a direction that

what is to be recorded in that individual’s case about that matter is to

be determined by the agreement,

   

there is to be a conclusive presumption for the purposes of this Act that the

information to which the direction relates is accurate and complete

5

information about that matter.

(4)   

Information, once entered in the Register, may continue to be recorded in the

Register for so long as it is consistent with the statutory purposes for it to be so

recorded.

(5)   

The Secretary of State may by order modify the information for the time being

10

set out in Schedule 1.

(6)   

The Secretary of State may make an order under this section adding

information to the information that may be recorded in the Register only if he

considers that it would be consistent with the statutory purposes for the

additional information to be so recorded.

15

(7)   

The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without

other provision) any provision for adding information to the information that

may be recorded in the Register unless a draft of the order has been laid before

Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.

4       

Designation of documents for purposes of registration etc.

20

(1)   

The Secretary of State may by order designate a description of documents for

the purposes of this Act.

(2)   

The only documents that may be the subject of an order designating a

description of documents for the purposes of this Act are—

(a)   

documents that a person has a power or duty to issue by virtue of

25

provision made by or under an enactment; or

(b)   

documents which a Minister of the Crown or Northern Ireland

department is authorised or required to issue otherwise than by virtue

of provision so made.

(3)   

The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without

30

other provision) any provision designating a description of documents for the

purposes of this Act unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament

and approved by a resolution of each House.

5       

Applications relating to entries in Register

(1)   

An application by an individual to be entered in the Register may be made

35

either—

(a)   

by being included in the prescribed manner in an application for a

designated document; or

(b)   

by being submitted in the prescribed manner directly to the Secretary

of State.

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(2)   

Where an application to be issued with a designated document is made by an

individual, the application must do one of the following—

(a)   

include an application by that individual to be entered in the Register;

(b)   

state that the individual is already entered in the Register and confirm

the contents of his entry;

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Identity Cards Bill

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(c)   

state that the individual is entered in the Register and confirm the

contents of his entry subject to the changes notified in the application.

(3)   

Where an individual makes—

(a)   

an application to be entered in the Register, or

(b)   

an application which for the purposes of this Act confirms (with or

5

without changes) the contents of his entry in the Register,

   

the application must be accompanied by the prescribed information.

(4)   

Where an individual has made an application falling within subsection (3)(a)

or (b), the Secretary of State may require him to do such one or more of the

things specified in subsection (5) as the Secretary of State thinks fit for the

10

purpose of—

(a)   

verifying information that may be entered in the Register about that

individual in consequence of that application; or

(b)   

otherwise ensuring that there is a complete, up-to-date and accurate

entry about that individual in the Register.

15

(5)   

The things that an individual may be required to do under subsection (4) are—

(a)   

to attend at a specified place and time;

(b)   

to allow his fingerprints, and other biometric information about

himself, to be taken and recorded;

(c)   

to allow himself to be photographed;

20

(d)   

otherwise to provide such information as may be required by the

Secretary of State.

(6)   

Regulations under this section must not require an individual to provide

information to another person unless it is information required by the

Secretary of State for the statutory purposes.

25

6       

Power of Secretary of State to require registration

(1)   

The Secretary of State may by order impose an obligation on individuals of a

description specified in the order to be entered in the Register.

(2)   

An order under this section may impose an obligation on individuals required

to be entered in the Register to apply in accordance with section 5 to be so

30

entered.

(3)   

An order which imposes an obligation to make such an application must set

out—

(a)   

the time when the requirement to make the application arises; and

(b)   

the period after that time within which the application must be made.

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(4)   

An individual who—

(a)   

contravenes an obligation imposed on him by provision made under

subsections (2) and (3), or

(b)   

contravenes a requirement imposed on him under section 5(4) in

connection with an application made in pursuance of such an

40

obligation,

   

shall be liable to a civil penalty not exceeding £2,500.

(5)   

An individual required to be entered in the Register by virtue of this section

who contravenes a requirement imposed under section 5(4) otherwise than in

 
 

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connection with such an application shall be liable to a civil penalty not

exceeding £1,000.

(6)   

An individual who has contravened an obligation imposed on him by

provision made under subsections (2) and (3) and on whom a penalty has been

imposed under subsection (4) in respect of that contravention shall be liable to

5

a further civil penalty not exceeding £2,500 in respect of each subsequent

occasion on which—

(a)   

a notice is given to him by the Secretary of State requiring him to make

an application to be entered in the Register; and

(b)   

he fails to do so within the period specified in the notice.

10

7       

Procedure for orders under s. 6

(1)   

The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without

other provision) any provision for compulsory registration unless—

(a)   

a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a

resolution of each House; and

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(b)   

each of the resolutions for approving the draft was agreed more than 60

days after the day on which the draft was laid before the House in

question.

(2)   

No draft order containing provision for compulsory registration is to be laid

before Parliament unless—

20

(a)   

the Secretary of State has prepared and published a report containing a

proposal for the making of such provision;

(b)   

the report sets out the Secretary of State’s reasons for making the

proposal;

(c)   

the report has been laid before Parliament and each House has

25

approved the proposal contained in the report, either with or without

modifications; and

(d)   

the draft order gives effect to the proposal so far as approved by both

Houses.

(3)   

An approval given in either House satisfies the requirements of subsection

30

(2)(c) only if it was given in that House on the first occasion on which a motion

for the approval of the proposal was made in that House by a Minister of the

Crown after—

(a)   

the laying of the report; or

(b)   

if more than one report containing that proposal has been laid before

35

that House, the laying of the one laid most recently.

(4)   

The Secretary of State must not make an order which—

(a)   

contains (with or without other provision) any provision that he is

authorised to make by section 6, but

(b)   

is not an order containing provision for compulsory registration,

40

   

unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a

resolution of each House.

(5)   

In reckoning a period of 60 days for the purposes of subsection (1), no account

shall be taken of a day for which—

(a)   

Parliament is dissolved or prorogued; or

45

(b)   

the House in question is adjourned as part of an adjournment of more

than four days.

 
 

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(6)   

References in this section to provision for compulsory registration are

references to any provision that the Secretary of State is authorised to make by

section 6 the effect of which is to impose an obligation on individuals to be

entered in the Register from a time when they would not otherwise be subject

to such an obligation.

5

ID cards

8       

Issue etc. of ID cards

(1)   

For the purposes of this Act an ID card is a card which—

(a)   

is issued to an individual by the Secretary of State, or as part of or

together with a designated document; and

10

(b)   

does, as respects that individual, one or both of the things specified in

subsection (2).

(2)   

Those things are—

(a)   

recording registrable facts about the individual that are already

recorded as part of his entry in the Register;

15

(b)   

carrying data enabling the card to be used for facilitating the making of

applications for information recorded in a prescribed part of the

individual’s entry in the Register, or for otherwise facilitating the

provision of that information to a person entitled to be provided with it.

(3)   

An ID card issued to an individual—

20

(a)   

must record only the prescribed information;

(b)   

must record prescribed parts of it in an encrypted form;

(c)   

is valid only for the prescribed period; and

(d)   

remains the property of the person issuing it.

(4)   

Except in prescribed cases, an ID card must be issued to an individual if he—

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(a)   

is entitled to be entered in the Register or is subject to compulsory

registration; and

(b)   

is an individual about whom the prescribed registrable facts are

recorded in the Register.

(5)   

In prescribed cases an ID card may be issued to an individual who—

30

(a)   

is not required to be issued with one; but

(b)   

is an individual about whom the prescribed registrable facts are

recorded in the Register.

(6)   

An ID card relating to an individual is not to be issued except on an application

made by him which either—

35

(a)   

accompanies an application made by him to be entered in the Register;

or

(b)   

in the prescribed manner confirms (with or without changes) the

contents of an entry already made in the Register for that individual.

(7)   

An individual who is not already the holder of an ID card must, in the

40

prescribed manner, include an application to be issued with such a card—

(a)   

in every application made by him to be issued with a designated

document; and

(b)   

in every application made by him in accordance with provision made

under section 6.

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