Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2009

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their contributions. I was indeed brief. I see no great point in going back over an ID card debate which has been resolved and is now in statute. I do not criticise at all the fact that other political parties have a different view about identity cards, which they have held consistently. On the broader point, which I accept, we are seeking to provide an incremental approach. Effective from the end of November, identity cards became available voluntarily—"voluntarily" is the important word—to those who live and work in Greater Manchester, and to airside workers at Manchester and London City airports. It is in that sense that the word "voluntary" becomes critical, except where we have a requirement on people, for reasons which these regulations seek to identify. A number of interesting points were made by the Liberal Democrat and Conservative spokespersons and I will try to deal with them in the order in which I took them on board. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, referred to health tourism and those people who are unable because of health conditions—or, indeed, anything else—to attend a public inquiry office or a post office to acquire the document. The answer is that those who are under medical treatment should apply for an extension of stay for that medical treatment. Mobile units can be deployed for applicants who are unable to attend a public inquiry office. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that those individuals would be denied their rights to apply and to be successful in acquiring the card that they need. I was asked what, effectively, is the value of the card to the incoming tier 2 worker. The card provides a single document that confirms not just status but, importantly, entitlement to work, and access to public funds and local services where that applies. It combines quite a number of documents into one much simpler to understand document. Discrimination concerns us all. In the summer, I covered the job of Meg Hillier while she was on maternity leave. She is the Minister responsible for identity cards at the Home Office. The truth is that we have been closely in concert with the Commissioner for Racial Equality to ensure that this scheme is fair. I believe that it is the reverse of discrimination. Someone who has this card would be able to avoid any suggestion of discrimination because it gives a clear identity and would protect those individuals. I will come to that when I deal with the other questions that have been put. On stakeholder consultation, there has been extensive engagement with stakeholders, both those who are likely to require identity cards or volunteer to have them, and those who are likely to want to engage with identity cards in the business community. Key stakeholders include major employers, universities, the finance sector and business groups including the Federation of Small Businesses and the CBI. That consultation led to the card being positively received by applicants, employers and universities, but some concern was expressed that the requirement for skilled workers to apply for the card could inconvenience them. To address that, the UKBA has introduced additional enrolment centres and contracts for enrolment centres to be provided by the Post Office. There was a problem of people coming into one part of the country and being greatly inconvenienced by not being able to get to a convenient centre. We have now extended that facility to 17 Crown post offices, which will allow applicants to enrol at more convenient times—for example, at lunch times and on Saturday mornings. There is no requirement to have an appointment for such an enrolment, so it should be relatively easy. Again on discrimination, this will apply only to those who are subject to immigration control. Those who are subject will have to apply for leave only if they wish to stay in the UK. If they are granted that leave, they will be issued with a resident’s permit as proof of their immigration status. That comes in the form of a vignette sticker for foreign nations, which contains certain biometric information to satisfy requirements of EU regulations. Those regulations oblige the UK to issue residence permits in a biometric format to replace the existing non-biometric documents. Therefore, we believe this card will serve the purposes of applicants, employers, local government and local social services. Importantly, it has been well received and has helped to secure our borders. We have heard about the 29 people who are subject to legal process. This has led to prison sentences of four to 18 months being imposed. The measure has helped to capture escaped prisoners, including one connected with a firearms offence. What have we learnt to ensure that the system is customer-friendly? We have learnt that it must meet the needs of customers. That is why—as I have just mentioned—we have increased the system’s capacity by extending it through post offices. The quantified benefits are listed in the assessment but they are subject to complex rules. The calculations are complex and many of the quantified benefits are cross-cutting. We keep benefits under review and in future may be able to quantify further benefits in a wider national identity scheme as it is implemented, and as the opportunities for improving efficiency are identified. All sectors covered by the card will be recognised. Card readers exercised the noble Baroness and the noble Lord. If you look at the long term—I am going back to the ID card debate, which I do not really want to get into—eventually we will have card readers rolled out in retail, finance and local authorities, not just at borders. I have been carrying a chip-and-PIN card in my wallet for a number of years. For at least half that time it was of no use whatever because there were no chip-and-PIN readers in retail establishments or banks. However, over time, when the value of the chip-and-PIN card—in this case, a credit card—became known, they became worth investing in on the part of retailers, finance companies or local authorities. When a lot of people were prepared to invest in the cards, the capital costs of investment fell. I believe that in the longer term that will also be the case when the identity card rolls out. I make that last point before I encourage the noble Lord to rise to his feet. I am not inviting a debate on the broader aspect; I am simply saying where I believe card readers are going in the longer term. He is absolutely right; in the short and medium term we have to provide card readers at borders. They are used at airports and ports. I am happy to send the noble Lord a list detailing that. The relationship between the information on the identity card and that on the national identity register was raised by our Liberal Democrat colleagues during the passage of the borders Bill. Information about individuals who apply for identity cards will be recorded on the national identity register; that is a simple fact.