ID cards offer a 'gateway' to services

ID cards would offer a 'range of services' that people would use in their everyday lives

The government's controversial ID card plans will be a "gateway" to an array of services, according to Andy Burnham, the Home Office minister in charge of the scheme.

Burnham told the Financial Times that the cards would offer a range of services that people would use in their everyday lives, such as picking up a parcel, hiring a car or applying for a loan.

The minister said that an ID card might also be needed when applying for a driving licence, but added that the decision to link the two had not yet been made.

Such comments relate to the notion of "designated documents", a phrase in the ID Card Bill referring to items that can only be provided if a person has been through the ID card process. A passport is the only designated document at present in the bill.

But Burnham admitted that such plans were not applicable until after ID cards become compulsory, which is not expected until 2012 at the earliest.

The minister's comments follow increasing doubt over whether the technology being considered can be fully integrated.

Tony Mansfield, research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, who has worked on feasibility studies with the government, said: "The biometrics is getting there, but there are more issues to do with integration and security." 

Downing Street announced last week that Sir David King, the government's chief scientific advisor, is to head up a new committee to oversee the technological aspects of the ID cards scheme.

The Bill is currently being debated in the House of Lords after passing its second reading in the House of Commons last week.