Potential suppliers for the national ID card scheme
believe it is feasible and are interested in bidding for the work,
according to a summary of survey responses released by the Home
Office.
The document says “all respondents” believed the scheme to be
feasible and, while recognising the challenges involved, “backed
this up by indicating an interest in bidding for the
procurement”.
It adds, “No respondents indicated a belief that the scheme is
either ‘not viable’ or ‘very high risk’,” but notes that some
respondents wanted a longer timetable for implementing the
scheme.
But several respondents identified lack of market capacity as a
potential problem, for the scheme, “particularly with the large
number of public sector system integration contracts currently in
rollout”.
The electronic document released by the Home Office -
Procurement Strategy Market Soundings (PSMS) Feedback - is a
presentation summarising the results of a market soundings
excercise. A legal disclaimer notes that it is “not
comprehensive”.
A “restricted” Home Office report, also called “Market
Soundings” leaked to the Sunday Times last month, revealed that
manufacturers were unwilling to get involved in the £5.8bn ID cards
programme because of its unpopularity, amid fears that it “may
compromise a company’s public image”.
The published summary warns that “the market’s ability to
deliver required data centre capacity in time was not established
conclusively and may require further investigation”.
It adds, “A number of respondents expressed a desire for further
information to be made available on the timing, scope and funding
of the planned biometrics technology trials.”
Tendering for the ID cards programme has now been held up by the
Home Office pending a review as part of a wider examination of the
department’s work.
A Home Office spokesperson confirmed that both the leaked
document and the presentation were summaries drawn from the same
Market Soundings excercise, with the leaked document also
containing "a very early draft" of findings from "concept
viability" workshops hosted by IT trade body Intellect.
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