Tom Young, Computing, Thursday 24 September 2009 at 18:00:00

All non-EU migrants will carry an ID card from April 2011

The Home Office has brought forward by three months the rollout of ID cards for tier 2 skilled migrants - those whose employer needs them to transfer to the Uk from overseas.

From 1 January 2010 all skilled migrants renewing or applying for UK visas will be issued with an ID card.

The enrolment of skilled migrants and temporary workers under Tiers 1 and 5 of the points based immigration system has also been brought forward from 2011 to 2010.

The compulsory identity card for foreign nationals from outside Europe was introduced as legislation in November 2008, and the Home Office is targeting various groups throughout 2009 and 2010 to issue them with cards.

Under current roll-out plans any migrant extending their stay in the United Kingdom or visiting for more than six months will need to apply for an identity card by April 2011.

So far 90,000 cards have been issued, mainly to students renewing their visa under Tier 4 of the PBS and those renewing marriage visas.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson also announced today that the UK Border Agency is to trial technology at 17 Crown Post Offices where foreign nationals can enroll fingerprints for a fee of £8 in order to apply for cards.

"Our partnership with the Post Office will provide vital extra capacity enabling the UK Border Agency to further speed up the enrolment process and give extra work to help safeguard the Post Office network. It will also give more choice and convenience to migrants about where they can enroll," said Johnson.

Using one of the UK Border Agency or Identity and Passport Service Offices will remain free.

Regulations setting out the next stage of the roll out of Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals will be laid before Parliament in October.

Bryan Glick, Computing, Monday 14 September 2009 at 11:44:00

Watchdog to monitor National Identity Register and use of cards by business and public sector

The government has taken another step towards the introduction of ID cards with the appointment today of the first Identity Commissioner.

Sir Joseph Pilling is taking on the role of watchdog for the National Identity Register and monitoring the use of ID cards by public and private sector organisations. He starts in the new job on 1 October, ready for the first rollout of the controversial scheme, to people in Greater Manchester.

“The public has the right to expect the National Identity Service to be run to the highest standards. The Identity Commissioner will champion their interests, providing a strong and independent voice, holding the Identity and Passport Service to account and ensuring information collected under the service is kept securely,” said home secretary Alan Johnson.

The Identity Commissioner will report to the home secretary at least once a year on the way the National Identity Service functions are carried out and the report will be laid before Parliament.

Pilling was formerly permanent secretary to the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 to 2005. Since then, he has been involved in reviews of senior appointments in the Church of England, the Civil Aviation Authority, the 30-year rule on the release of government information and the governance of London University.

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 11 September 2009 at 16:30:00

ContactPoint, the NHS National Programme for IT, and identity cards should be axed

The ContactPoint children's database, the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), and the identity cards scheme,should all be abolished, according to a plan to save £50bn a year of public spending put forward by the Institute of Directors and the TaxPayers' Alliance.

The report claims that abolishing ContactPoint would save £44m from 2010-11 onwards, the annual running costs of the database.

"Given the government’s appalling data security record, the children’s database is

an accident waiting to happen. It should be abolished," says the report.

Scrapping NPfIT will save £1.2bn a year, says the report, because it was never wanted by most NHS clinicians; it is running late; has unresolved issues over patient confidentiality; and it is too expensive.

Abolishing identity cards would save £55m from 2010-11 onwards, which represents the Identity and Passport Service’s (IPS) estimate of the gross costs

of providing ID cards to British and Irish citizens in 2010-11. The figure does not include the cost of biometric passports.

"Even if we accept the government’s own cost projections, abolishing the [ID cards] programme will still save up to £1.3bn over the next decade," says the report.

The Conservatives have promised to abolish identity cards and have proposed alternatives to the summary care record which is the main expense of the NPfIT. They have also heavily criticised ContactPoint.

Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors, said cuts desperately need to be made.

"Businesses are right now making savings and cutting back on costs to get through the recession, and there is no reason why the public sector should not have to do the same," he said.

Computing Staff, Computing, Friday 24 July 2009 at 11:06:00

Reviews of high-risk IT projects within the Home Office, Department of Health, and the Department for Work and Pensions released

Government buying agency the Office of Government Commerce has released the gateway reviews for a number of high-risk IT projects within the Home Office, Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The reviews were published in response to a freedom of information request for them made over three years ago.

After a protracted legal battle the OGC has recently released a number of other gateway reviews relating to the ID cards programme and the NHS National Programme for IT over the summer.

They award a red, amber or green status to projects based on their readiness for moving ahead.

They include a "red" status awarded to electronic booking systems as part of the NHS National Programme for IT.

It recommends that: "The deployment plans are reviewed taking account of experience to date, current constraints, and local capability."

Another review of the N3 broadband network for the NHS awards it an "amber" status. That review recommends "a senior responsible owner" be appointed as soon as possible.

Two reviews of the ID cards programme award it an "amber" status and recommend "setting out the case in a more strategic way" and highlights that the "new agency" for delivery should be made responsible for the "wider identity management scheme".

The recommendation was adopted and the agency became the Identity and Passport Service.

A Home Office plan for a single non-emergency number was awarded an "amber" status and it is recommended that a "commonly shared vision" for the project be agreed between the police, the Home Office and local government.