ID card procurement starts

The formal procurement process for the government's biometric national identity card scheme has finally started.

The intitial competition is expected to take around nine months and will create a preferred list of five prime contractors to bid for future deals to develop and run the scheme.

Individual deals worth around £2bn will then be let through a series of mini competitions. The first are expected to be a replacement fingerprint system and the enrolment application for both passports and ID cards.

The deals are expected to be signed towards the end of 2008 and the first cards rolled out to UK citizens by late 2009.

Home Office minister Meg Hillier said: 'The National Identity Scheme will be a crucial part of the UK's key national infrastructure, and bring the way we prove identity into the 21st century.

'It is a groundbreaking project, with the potential for huge benefits for individuals and for the nation.

'As the framework procurement makes clear, we are committed to introducing the scheme carefully and securely, minimising both cost and risk,' she said.

The procurement process was orginally expected to start in the Spring but was delayed by the handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown.

See also:

ID cards marked for fast rollout

Treasury report will call for rapid take-up by citizens, say sources  09 Aug 2007

ID card consultancy hits £50m

Frustration builds as technology procurement still has not begun  26 Jul 2007

ID cards deals primed to start

Timetable schedules first contract awards for second quarter of 2008  24 May 2007

Politics delays ID card tender

Crosby report to benefit from 'clear air' of new PM, say sources  12 Apr 2007

MPs argue over ID card pricing

Seventy per cent of biometric scheme costs to be spent anyway upgrading passports, says Home Office  22 Feb 2007

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