Savings from axed ID card contracts will be limited

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Friday 28 May 2010 at 17:22:00

With only the smallest contract, worth �18m, to be cut completely

The �86m in savings to come from axing ID card suppliers "once all exit costs
are met" as
reported
on the BBC is unlikely to appear, given details of the supplier contract
renegotiations released by the Home Office.

Only one of three related contracts is to be cut. This was signed with
Thales
in July 2008 and is worth �18m. It would have seen Thales launch the ID
cards nationwide. The company issued two batches of ID cards in 2009/2010 ?
first in Manchester and then in London.

The Home Office was not willing to release details of contract renegotiations
with Thales but the government will probably have to pay a fine for breaking the
contract.

The other two significant contracts, with CSC for �385m and with IBM for
�265m, will remain in place.

The 10-year CSC contract awarded in April 2009 will remain unaffected. This
contract will see CSC deliver new systems and processes to support the way
applications for passports and identity cards are examined. The system will
continue to be built to support passports even though it no longer needs to
support ID cards.

A contract for the National Biometric Identity Service was awarded to IBM in
May 2009 for seven years, and was for the storing and matching of biometric
information in passports and identity cards in the future, with a three-year
option to extend. The government has now scrapped plans for extensive personal
details to be retained.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ?The cancellation of ID cards will have a
limited impact on the contract with IBM, as much of the capability it delivers
is required for IPS (passport) and UKBA use. The majority of the contract will
remain in place to build and operate the Asylum Fingerprint System replacement.?

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2263894/home-office-won-predicted