By Gemma Simpson, 16 May 2007 16:35
NEWS
The UK's identity cards scheme appears "out of control", according to a group of researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE), who are calling for an independent review of the project's figures.
Last week a government report revealed the ID cards scheme will cost more than £5.5bn to set up and run over the next 10 years.
But the LSE's Identity Project group - long-term critics of the ID cards scheme - has warned the government's report reveals "not a project that is progressing well but rather one that appears to be getting out of control, despite the best efforts of the Identity and Passport Service to minimise the risks and costs of the scheme".
For example the dropping of iris biometrics and reuse of existing government databases should have had a noticeable effect on the costs of the scheme but this is not the case, the LSE report claims.
The report said: "Either the radical redesign of the scheme has had no other effect on the costs of the scheme, or the previous estimates of costs were much higher than parliament had previously been told."
The LSE Identity Project estimates an annual operational cost of £600m for the ID cards scheme but projects only £150m per year will be made from registration fees, assuming five million enrolments per year at a cost of £30 per person.
Edgar Whitley, research co-ordinator at the LSE's Identity Project, told silicon.com this leaves a shortfall of £450m that could be covered by the charge the Home Office levies for formal verifications of identity - similar to the small charge credit card users pay to have their details verified online.
silicon.com Public Sector
Get the latest public sector news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the PS newsletter today!
A Home Office spokesman said with any cost estimates covering a 10-year forward period there are uncertainties and added that while anything new from the LSE's latest report will be considered, historic weaknesses have been found in the LSE's past assumptions and analysis of the costs of the scheme.
He added: "It is simply not true, though, to claim that the scheme is 'out of control'. Once in operation the scheme will essentially be self-financing through fee income."
Comments
There are 9 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
What "historic weakneses"?
The LSE report and analysis is not wrong or 'weak' because the Home Secretary or Prime Minister at the time decided to slag it off. The LSE published a 300-page document, including *all* of their assumptions, so that people could make up their own minds as to the validity of their conclusions. Something the government has singularly failed to do.
When criticising the LSE, the Home Office resorted to making figures up (including a mysterious sum for 'marketing' that never even appeared in the LSE report) and mounted personal attacks on the authors of the report. Far from engaging in rational debate, the government engaged in a campaign of smear and innuendo.
The LSE's '£300 cost per person' was clearly not going to be the retail price of an ID card, but - given subsequent rises in the government's own estimates, and the cost to other governmetn departments and business for which HO have never accounted - seems more likely than ever to be the ultimate cost. And claims by HO that the card would last for 10 years to the LSE's more realistic 5 would seem borne out by the fact that the chip in the ePassport has only got a 2 year warranty.
The real "historic weakness" here is in the Home Office's case, and its excuses just get tireder and tireder...
2. Roger Huffadine
"the scheme will essentially be self-financing through fee income." OR
"Essentially if it costs more than we expected we will charge more than we said"
3. GK
I don't think the ID cards scheme was ever in control!...
What a joke! And what a waste of time and money, does the government not listen?!?
4. Richard
Any more ways to say "NO"?
This crazy, dangerous ID project needs to be stopped NOW: Even if it means Gordon Brown taking the credit.
Outside government, we're convinced that it'll never work; it'll cause a whole host of new problems and dangers; not meet its declared aims; be ruinously expensive.
Already this ID project has wasted endless time of scarce skilled people who should be doing something more productive for the UK.
It's also wasted large sums of taxpayers' money.
Now we find that the USA doesn't trust people with UK passports - even with the expensive new chips & checks.
Cancel these crazy projects NOW!
5. Richard Davies
Everyone but the government seems to understand the reality regarding this ID Card project which is that it is out of control and badly managed.
Why then are the government being allowed to continue with the project and waste millions more pounds of tax payers money?
Why can't they be stopped NOW instead of later?
Its a complete disgrace.
6. Radical Meldrew
The ID card scheme is doomed to fail just like our government.
I am convinced that the scheme will still go ahead in spite of underwhelming public support. Bring back democracy.
7. Jeremy Wickins
Further to Roger's comment: "... Or we'll sell the data to anyone that asks for it. Oh, and charge the data subject to access their own information".
8. Jeremy Wickins
Sorry, I used the term "data subject" We all know that we are actually merely objects to the government, unless we mean "subject" as in "subject to whatever we say".
9. galley slave#41
IF IT GETS ANY MORE EXPENSIVE ONLY THE SUPER RICH WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD AN ID CARD...... THE REST OF US WILL BECOME... NON-CITIZENS
WHICH IS PROBABLY JUST WHAT OUR LORDS AND MASTERS WANT