ID cards face struggle in North West

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The popularity of the ID card appears to be struggling after it was revealed that only 1,300 ID cards have been applied for in Greater Manchester.

The particularly damning fact is that in October 2009 it was revealed that there had been 2,000 expressions of interest by Manchester citizens. At the time, the Identity and Passport Service's chief executive, James Hall, defended the 2,000 figure, saying it would rise once advertising had started in the city.

But following the launch of ID cards in the North West, identity minister Meg Hillier admitted in a parliamentary written answer on 19 January 2010 that the IPS has attracted less than those initially interested. From the scheme's launch in the city on 30 November 2009 to 14 January 2010, 1,300 people who live in Greater Manchester have "applied and attended an enrolment appointment for an identity card", she said.

With approximately 500,000 people living in Manchester, this means just 0.26 per cent of the city's population has applied to the scheme which the government envisages will be rolled out to millions. In October 2009 the Conservatives calculated that to meet the estimated £835m costs, the government needs 28 million people to sign up and pay the £30 fee.

Public Servant Daily has confirmed with the Home Office that advertising has begun in the city, with information being sent out to businesses to "counter the inaccurate information" in the public domain. By this, the department refers to the stream of negative press attention towards the scheme, some of which has been inaccurate.

"People want ID cards. Polling has showed a consistent 60 per cent of people support the National Identity Service. This has translated into more than 600 calls per day from people requesting application packs," a spokesman said.

A spokesman for NO2ID told Public Servant Daily: "That the Home Office is fiddling the figures on the levels of public support for ID cards should come as no surprise - it's been doing so for years.

"From the projected costs to taxpayer money spent so far, to Office of Government Commerce reviews that it fought to keep private, to abortive attempts to pressurise airport staff onto scheme - at every step the Home Office tried to disguise the fact that the identity card scheme is nothing but a dangerous, intrusive bureaucratic convenience that nobody wants."

• A second Home Office spokesman has since been in touch to inform us that more than 16,000 application packs have been requested by members of the public in Manchester and the North West. In addition, the IPS is said to be receiving 600 calls each day from members of the public requesting an ID card application pack.