Identity Cards Bill

I hope that I can help the noble Lord. I should start by saying that the whole point of the civil penalties is not to provide punishment but a means of enforcement to get people to provide their biometric data. I must make it clear that if, at any stage in the process, the person says ““I’ll come quietly and have my biometrics taken””, the penalty can be waived. We have always said that it will normally be appropriate to issue a warning letter to an individual who is considered to be liable for a civil penalty. However, taking up the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, about when it might not be appropriate, it may be that those who persistently fail to meet their obligations under the Bill are considered no longer to require warning letters. In those circumstances, immediate notice of a penalty would suffice. Perhaps I should take the Committee through the likely scenario. First, a letter informing a person that he or she is required to register, and inviting them to make an appointment, will be sent. The bottom of that letter will state that if they fail to comply a civil penalty could be given. There would then be a second letter reminding the person of the first letter and their need to register, and would suggest an appointment time and invite them to attend or to rearrange that at a more convenient time. If there is no response to that second letter, there will then be a warning letter which will provide, pursuant to paragraph 3.1 and 3.2 of the code, a date for the person to attend. That will be the third opportunity. If there is no response to that warning letter, a civil penalty notice can be issued in accordance with Clause 33 and the secondary legislation made under it. Then there is the objection stage; then the appeal stage; and then the seventh stage is that the Secretary of State may bring proceedings in the civil courts. Then, right at the end of that process, when the Secretary of State has obtained judgment on a debt, it is for him to decide whether to enforce that debt. If the person complies during any of those seven stages, because the whole point of the civil penalties is to obtain compliance, it is within the Secretary of State’s discretion to waive all or any part of that penalty. I recognise the issue that the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, raised in relation to the word ““normally””. We can certainly see how we can strengthen that draft code—it is only a draft. We have some considerable time and have produced it so that noble Lords would have an opportunity to examine it, make suggestions about it and we can work on it further. It is envisaged that the person will have a range of methods of responding to the warning letter. We have provided for a written letter so that we can have a record that it was sent appropriately and as a safeguard for the individual, as opposed to other methods which would make it much more difficult to verify that the communication had taken place.