Identity Cards Bill

Clause 11 deals with the provisions that the Government feel are necessary to permit data to be shared with the Secretary of State and designated documents authorities for the purposes of verifying information to be placed on the national identity register, where no such powers already exist. The amendments in the name of the noble Lords, Lord Dholakia and Lord Phillips of Sudbury, highlight the fact that a person can provide information about themselves only if they indeed possess it and it would be unreasonable to expect otherwise. Amendment No. 162 goes further and questions the legitimacy of the Secretary of State being able to use ““something otherwise available”” to him,"““for being recorded about an individual in the Register””." Will the Minister please outline to the Committee the sort of information and situation Her Majesty’s Government envisage will call for this provision in subsection (1)? I have two further questions. First, does the Minister have current examples in mind? Secondly, what verification efforts will the Government make to ensure that the information which the Secretary of State has available from whatever sources is correct and will not open up problems of error which have already been debated, such as whether the individual will be compensated if the information, for whatever reason, turns out to be incorrect?