Identity Cards Bill

I hope I can offer some reassurance on the nature of the planned procurement process for the identity card scheme and about the involvement of the private sector in general. While strategic functions and critical decision-making for the identity card scheme will necessarily remain under the control of the public sector, it is planned that where the operations of the identity card scheme can best be delivered by the private sector the Home Office will seek to procure these services from the market. Amendment No. 151 would require the Secretary of State to make a commitment on the face of the Bill to open procurement contracts for the processing and issuing of identity cards to competitive tendering. It is unnecessary to put that in the Bill as such procurement requirements are already stipulated by existing European Union legislation which sets out the procedures to be followed at each stage of the procurement process leading to the eventual award of contracts. Those procedures are based on the principles of transparency, non-discrimination and fair competition. In accordance with the Office of Government Commerce’s best practice, the Home Office is running a number of market-sounding exercises to consult the market on our proposed procurement approach. However, the procurement process itself has yet to start, and, as I am sure noble Lords will understand, it cannot be started unless and until the Bill receives Royal Assent. The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay of St Johns, made reference to the question asked last week, or perhaps it was the week before, by the noble Lord, Lord Clarke of Hampstead, about the United Kingdom Passport Service’s advertisements for new staff. Those advertisements for staff are not related to identity cards. I would like to make that quite clear. They cannot be related because Parliament has not yet given its authority. They relate to existing plans and proposals for the UK Passport Service to interview first-time applicants for passports which, as we have made clear in a number of our discussions, are planned to begin next year. As part of the planned procurement package, elements of the application and enrolment process will be conducted by the private sector. The Post Office, along with others, will be open to compete for these contracts on the basis of fulfilling the established requirements of the identity card programme—in a manner, of course, that would represent value for taxpayers’ money. That is, quite rightly, how we have got to approach this. I am therefore happy to confirm that the Post Office will not be discriminated against in any way, shape or form. Those contracts will be open to fair competition and the Post Office, along with others, will have the opportunity, in open competition, to win those contracts on the basis of completing the requirements of the programme. I hope that that offers the reassurance that the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay of St Johns, and the noble Lord, Lord Clarke of Hampstead, seek.