Government reveals cost of decommissioned ID card scheme

The government has revealed that cancelling contracts agreed under the previous regime for the now-defunct ID card scheme has cost around £2.25m.

In a letter sent from MP Damien Green to MP Meg Hiller on 10 February (ZIP), but only released online now, Green explained that Thales had received £2m, Cable & Wireless £68,000 and 3M £183,000 for cancelled contracts.

Green also revealed that contracts already signed with CSC and IBM on passport management had been reduced in light of the end of the ID card scheme without the need for any termination rates to be paid.

Thales will receive payments not exceeding £400,000 from the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to manage the decommissioning of ID card systems and destroy the personal data that was held in them.

An audit by the government dated 28 February confirmed that all necessary data was destroyed on 10 February.

"The method employed by IPS to identify the relevant National Identity Register [NIR] data and IT equipment was confirmed by internal audit prior to the destruction process and judged to be a robust approach," it said.

"We have confidence that sound processes were employed to ensure that the NIR, associated data and computer hardware were identified and destroyed in accordance with the Identity Documents Act."

The much criticised ID cards scheme finally came to an end in January after the government said that any cards issued could no longer be used to travel within Europe or prove the holder's identity.