Publication of internal reports into the feasibility of the
government's
ID cards programme would have jeopardised support from
government agencies.
The claim was made by Robin Woodland, director of policy at the
Identity and Passport Service, in evidence to the Information
Tribunal. The tribunal was considering whether two initial
Gateway "zero" review reports into the feasibility of the ID cards
project should be published.
The co-operation of government departments and agencies is
critical to the success of the ID cards scheme.
The government is asking departments to cost the integration of
their systems with the biometrics-based National Identity Register,
which is being installed on the Customer Information System (CIS)
at the Department for Work and Pensions.
Last month, home secretary Jacqui Smith told the House of
Commons that a key purpose of the National Identity Register was to
help verify the identity of people who use public services.
The Office of Government Commerce, which is part of the
Treasury, has refused to publish the two Gateway stage zero reports
on the ID cards scheme.
The information commissioner has ordered that the reports be
released, as has the Information Tribunal - twice. But the
Office of Government Commerce has refused, and has
spent about £140,000 appealing against the orders.
Now some of the evidence given by officials to an Information
Tribunal hearing into whether the Gateway reviews should be
released, has been published.
All the witnesses at the hearing had been called by the Office
of Government Commerce to argue that the gateway reviews should
remain confidential.
Woodland told the Information Tribunal that he would not have
particularly welcomed the disclosure in 2005 of two Gateway review
reports on the ID cards scheme.
He said that their disclosure in 2005 would have risked a change
of mind on the part of government agencies. Anything that could
have been interpreted in the reviews as bad news would have been
"grist to the mill" for those who did not wish the ID cards project
well, he said.
Another witness at the Information Tribunal, Keith Boxall, who
is head of standards and practice at the Identity and Passport
Service, said the publication of the Gateway review reports, even
today, could influence a change in the overall direction of the ID
cards programme.
The original request for the reviews to be published was made on
3 January 2005, two days after the Freedom of Information Act came
into force. The Office of Government Commerce has rejected every
request made to it under the FOI Act for Gateway reviews to be
published - although it claims there is no blanket policy and it
considers every request on its merits.
The Information Tribunal ruled last week that the release of the
two Gateway zero reviews would "undoubtedly make an important
contribution to the debate" over ID cards.
The tribunal revealed there were some adverse criticisms in the
Gateway reviews, but it said the criticisms were "mild".
The tribunal gave the Office of Government Commerce 28 days to
publish the two Gateway zero reports on the ID cards scheme,
despite pleas by Woodland other witnesses from the OGC and the
Identity and Passport Service that the documents should remain
confidential. The OGC may appeal against the order to the High
Court.
Woodland was involved in all aspects of the Identity Cards Act
2006 and the draft bills which went before it. He is now in charge
of secondary legislation related to the scheme.
Read
more about the ID cards scheme on the IT Projects blog
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