Identity Documents Bill

The amendments address an issue that was much discussed in Committee. They are not central to the Bill itself, but they are an important part of the wider picture. As we have already discussed at all stages, the Bill is about scrapping ID cards, destroying the data held on the national identity register and, as a result, removing the disproportionate hand of the state in the gathering of personal and biometric data for the purpose of issuing an ID card. It removes the ability of the state to require that a cardholder informs the state for the next 10 years of their personal circumstances, and it removes the threat of a heavy fine of up to £1,000 should they fail to do so. Most of the clauses in the Bill re-enact the parts of the Identity Cards Act 2006 that were useful and proportionate. Clause 1 re-enacts the provisions of section 38 of the 2006 Act, which allows the Secretary of State to require relevant information to be provided to verify information provided in a passport application or to decide whether to withdraw a passport. In this context, ““relevant information”” includes identity information to confirm that the applicant is a real person and the person whom they claim to be. It enables the Identity and Passport Service to obtain information relevant to the application and considered necessary to conduct an effective interview with first-time applicants. That may include records from the credit reference agency that will show how long the person has lived at an address and at how many addresses they have lived. It would be unlawful and a breach of the Data Protection Act to require information that was not relevant to the passport application. During the oral evidence sessions in Committee, two pressure groups—Liberty and Justice—supported the provisions in the clause, which is a welcome and envious position for any Government when bringing new legislation before Parliament. However, I indicated in Committee that I would welcome representations from members of the Committee on the scope of clause 10—in particular, on ensuring that information obtained is indeed passport-specific—and on the retention policy on data obtained. Many points were made in Committee, and I have reflected on them. Many of the most cogent points were made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), who is sadly not in his place today. As he indicated in the fifth sitting of the Committee, clause 10 would benefit from greater clarity about the Secretary of State's ability to require information. The amendments before the House would place a statutory limitation in the Bill, requiring that information be obtained only in respect of the passport application. It would not be appropriate for two reasons, still less practical, to list what that information may be. First, doing so would obviously alert potential fraudsters to the categories or sources of information being used, and may give them an indication of what information sources they should satisfy to ensure that a fraudulent passport application might be successful. Secondly, the format and source from which information could be obtained is not exhaustive, and it would be unnecessarily restrictive on the operational ability of the Identity and Passport Service not to be able to make use of verification sources that would support the main aim of preventing and reducing fraud. Importantly, we believe that we have strengthened the legislation by clarifying in the Bill that any information required must be relevant to the passport application. The amendments to clause 10 also place a requirement on the Secretary of State to destroy any information obtained under the clause within 28 days of the passport being issued. That is already current practice in the Identity and Passport Service, but placing the requirement on to a statutory footing will increase transparency and accountability. Where information has been obtained in consideration of a possible withdrawal of the passport, any information gathered must be destroyed within 28 days of a decision not to withdraw the passport. Where a passport has been refused, the information will be retained only for as long as is necessary for possible investigative and prosecutorial purposes. We believe that that is a proportionate approach to data retention, and it is appropriate that the retention policy should be set out in the Bill. Amendment 1 is a technical amendment, proposed in the light of the changes to clause 10 that I have outlined. The passage of the Bill through this House has served to illustrate the level of support for our overall policy of scrapping the ID card scheme. The Bill went through unopposed on Second Reading. I commend the wisdom of the Opposition in not seeking to oppose the principle of the Bill, although their rhetoric has not quite matched the practicalities of their votes. However, one thing that does not divide me from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier), who leads for the Opposition on this issue, is that we both recognise that we must continue to do everything that we can to tackle identity fraud. We recognise the importance of clause 10 in preventing and combating fraud, and in maintaining the effectiveness of counter-fraud investigators in achieving successful prosecutions against those who seek to make fraudulent applications. With the amendments, the revised clause 10 will achieve that, at the same time as increasing transparency and accountability. I hope that hon. Members from all parts of the House will welcome the improvements that the amendments propose.