ID card spending reaches £20.6m

The government has revealed fresh details of the levels of spending on its controversial identity cards project so far.

In preparation for the project, it spent £19m between the start of the 2003 financial year and the end of June 2005. A further £1.6m has been spent on trials.

The government has also provided details of its spending on consultants in relation to the project.

In a written response to a parliamentary question, Baroness Scotland of Asthal said the identity cards programme appointed PA Consulting as a "delivery partner" in June 2004 to provide services which include technical requirements, design of the scheme, and resilience and security.

She said: "Committed spend in relation to PA Consulting [as at end of May 2005] was £12,016,638."

She also revealed how much has been spent with other consulting companies working on the project.

Atos Origin picked up just over £1m for establishing and running the UKPS biometric trial and research work into preventing duplicate enrolment. The Sirius consortium, made up of Fujitsu Services, Global Crossing and PWC, has been paid £183,648 for advice on feasibility and costs.

Other contracts signed include a £47,548 deal with Cornwell Management Consultants for the "assessment of potential public sector delivery partners", and £43,250 to Shreeveport Management Consultancy for "facilitation of workshops and core proposition development".

Scotland also listed smaller deals with Axon Group, Partnerships UK and the Office of Government Commerce.

The third reading of the Identity Cards Bill is expected this autumn.