Scrapping controversial elements of the UK national identity
scheme would save taxpayers more than £3bn over the next 10 years,
research has shown.
Analysis of the scheme by public sector research firm
Kable found that the cost of
£4.95bn would be slashed to £1.88bn if plans for an ID card,
identity register and fingerprints on passports are dropped.
The Labour party has already revised its plans to trim £700m and
the Conservative Party has pledged to cancel the ID card and
register in the face of growing criticism.
The security of the planned ID cards has been challenged, but
the government has
rejected claims that the cards are easily
hacked and cloned.
The Conservative party is yet to confirm its policy on
fingerprinting for passports.
The research found that even if fingerprint data is included in
passports, savings of £2.2bn could be achieved by scrapping other
parts of the scheme.
"The cancellation would impact almost every aspect of the
National Identity Scheme," said Philippe Martin, senior analyst at
Kable.
In addition to avoiding the cost of producing ID cards, the move
will eliminate costs for enrolment, processing and distribution, he
said.
Martin predicted that the passport will remain the primary
authentication document for interaction with the state. "However,
new authentication systems are likely to be put in place to enable
secure online interaction with the state," he said.