The cost of setting up the National Identity Scheme has risen by more than a third, as the Identity and Passport Service considers discounts for off-peak applications.
In its biannual report on costs, released on Tuesday and required under the Identity Cards Act 2006, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) said that the cost of establishing the scheme for the decade from October 2007 has risen by 37 percent, from £245m to £335m.
The report said this was due to the new implementation plan announced in March, with the likes of airport workers being compelled to join the scheme from 2009, young people able to enrol on a voluntary basis from 2010, and "a faster rollout from 2012".
The overall cost for the 10-year period has fallen by £975m, from £5.43bn to £4.57bn. Two reasons given by IPS were that it has cut the cost of replacing the passport-renewal system and that it has decided to involve the private sector in collecting biometrics, thereby cutting costs, although the network of offices opened over the last year for passport interviews will still play a role.
The report said the production and delivery of ID cards and passports would represent 40 percent of the project's costs. A regional office network would cost 16 percent, the business and programme management 18 percent, technology infrastructure 16 percent, the enrolment-office network eight percent and a contact centre two percent.
The report also revealed that the project has cost £220m in the six months from October 2007 to April 2008, although the main procurement is yet to be completed.
On the cost of producing cards for foreign nationals, the report said this will rise by 65 percent for the decade from October 2007, from £182m to £301m, due to the extension of the scheme to those coming to the UK to work or study with visas of more than six months, and to those with indefinite leave to remain.
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IPS also said it will run a consultation on fees and charges later in 2008. This will discuss whether it will charge less for those applying outside the peak summer period, when many apply for passports, and whether it should charge a fee for amending data, such as one's address, which it will be compulsory to supply for those on the register.
The consultation will also discuss whether IPS should recover all its costs through charges for products, or whether it should charge separately for registration on the National Identity Register; whether some groups, such as the elderly, should receive discounts; what premiums it should charge for reduced and specified processing times; and how it can be ensured that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's consular service charge, currently £15.12 for an adult passport, is only charged once.
Talkback
The ministers and everyone else involved in this scheme constantly derided the high true cost estimates put forward, insisting their lower projected costs were accurate.
Time to pay the piper. If the official cost projection has now gone 37% over the original budget then they should pay up personally, after all this government made local councilors possibly liable for any overspend they caused by their local poor decisions.