Identity Cards Bill

House of Lords

Session 2005 - 06
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Identity Cards Bill

Identity Cards Bill
1

A
Bill
[AS AMENDED ON REPORT]
To
Make provision for a national scheme of registration of individuals and for the
issue of cards capable of being used for identifying registered individuals; to
make it an offence for a person to be in possession or control of an identity
document to which he is not entitled, or of apparatus, articles or materials for
making false identity documents; to amend the Consular Fees Act 1980; to
make provision facilitating the verification of information provided with an
application for a passport; and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Registration
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The National Identity Register
(1)
Subject to section 44, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to establish
and maintain a register of individuals (to be known as “the National Identity
Register”).
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(2)
The purposes for which the Register is to be established and maintained are
confined to the statutory purposes.
(3)
The statutory purposes are to facilitate, by the maintenance of a record of
registrable facts about individuals in the United Kingdom—
(a)
the provision of a convenient method for such individuals to prove
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registrable facts about themselves to others who reasonably require
proof; and
(b)
the provision of a secure and reliable method for registrable facts about
such individuals to be ascertained, recorded, stored and verified
wherever that is necessary in the public interest.
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HL Bill 71 54/1

Identity Cards Bill
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(4)
For the purposes of this Act something is necessary in the public interest if, and
only if, it is—
(a)
in the interests of national security;
(b)
for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime;
(c)
for the purposes of the enforcement of immigration controls;
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(d)
for the purposes of the enforcement of prohibitions on unauthorised
working or employment; or
(e)
for the purpose of preventing illegal or fraudulent access to public
services.
(5)
In this Act “registrable fact”, in relation to an individual, means—
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(a)
his identity;
(b)
the address of his principal place of residence in the United Kingdom;
(c)
the address of every other place in the United Kingdom or elsewhere
where he has a place of residence;
(d)
where in the United Kingdom and elsewhere he has previously been
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resident;
(e)
the times at which he was resident at different places in the United
Kingdom or elsewhere;
(f)
his current residential status;
(g)
residential statuses previously held by him;
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(h)
information about numbers allocated to him for identification purposes
and about the documents to which they relate;
(i)
information about occasions on which information recorded about him
in the Register has been provided to any person; and
(j)
information recorded in the Register at his request.
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(6)
But the registrable facts falling within subsection (5)(h) do not include any
sensitive personal data (within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998
(c. 29)) or anything the disclosure of which would tend to reveal such data.
(7)
In this section references to an individual’s identity are references to—
(a)
his full name;
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(b)
other names by which he is or has previously been known;
(c)
his gender;
(d)
his date and place of birth and, if he has died, the date of his death; and
(e)
physical characteristics of his that are capable of being used for
identifying him.
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(8)
In this section “residential status”, in relation to an individual, means—
(a)
his nationality;
(b)
his entitlement to remain in the United Kingdom; and
(c)
where that entitlement derives from a grant of leave to enter or remain
in the United Kingdom, the terms and conditions of that leave.
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Individuals entered in Register
(1)
An entry must be made in the Register for every individual who—
(a)
is entitled to be entered in it; and
(b)
applies to be entered in it.
(2)
The individuals entitled to be entered in the Register are—
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Identity Cards Bill
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(a)
every individual who has attained the age of 16 and, without being
excluded under subsection (3) from an entitlement to be registered, is
residing at a place in the United Kingdom; and
(b)
every individual of a prescribed description who has resided in the
United Kingdom or who is proposing to enter the United Kingdom.
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(3)
Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide that an individual
residing in the United Kingdom is excluded from an entitlement to be
registered if—
(a)
he is residing in the United Kingdom in exercise of an entitlement to
remain there that will end less than the prescribed period after it was
10
acquired;
(b)
he is an individual of a prescribed description who has not yet been
resident in the United Kingdom for the prescribed period; or
(c)
he is residing in the United Kingdom despite having no entitlement to
remain there.
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(4)
An entry for an individual may be made in the Register (whether or not he has
applied to be, or is entitled to be, entered in it) if—
(a)
information capable of being recorded in an entry for him is otherwise
available to be recorded; and
(b)
the Secretary of State considers that the addition of the entry to the
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Register would be consistent with the statutory purposes.
(5)
An entry in the Register consisting of all the information recorded about an
individual must be given a unique number, to be known as his National
Identity Registration Number; and that number must comply with the
prescribed requirements.
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(6)
The Secretary of State may by order modify the age for the time being specified
in subsection (2)(a).
(7)
The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without
other provision) any provision that he is authorised to make by subsection (6)
unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a
30
resolution of each House.
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Information recorded in Register
(1)
Information—
(a)
may be entered in the Register, and
(b)
once entered, may continue to be recorded there,
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only if and for so long as it is consistent with the statutory purposes for it to be
recorded in the Register.
(2)
Information may not be recorded in the Register unless it is—
(a)
information the inclusion of which in an individual’s entry is
authorised by Schedule 1;
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(b)
information of a technical nature for use in connection with the
administration of the Register;
(c)
information of a technical nature for use in connection with the
administration of arrangements made for purposes connected with the
issue or cancellation of ID cards; and
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(d)
information that must be recorded in the Register in accordance with
subsection (3).

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(3)
Information about an individual must be recorded in his entry in the Register
(whether or not it is authorised by Schedule 1) if—
(a)
he has made an application to the Secretary of State requesting the
recording of the information as part of his entry;
(b)
the information is of a description identified in regulations made by the
5
Secretary of State as a description of information that may be made the
subject of such a request; and
(c)
the Secretary of State considers that it is both practicable and
appropriate for it to be recorded in accordance with the applicant’s
request.
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(4)
Where—
(a)
the Secretary of State and an individual have agreed on what is to be
recorded about a matter in that individual’s entry in the Register, and
(b)
the Secretary of State has given, and not withdrawn, a direction that
what is to be recorded in that individual’s case about that matter is to
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be determined by the agreement,

there is to be a conclusive presumption for the purposes of this Act that the
information to which the direction relates is accurate and complete
information about that matter.
(5)
The Secretary of State may by order modify the information for the time being
20
set out in Schedule 1.
(6)
The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without
other provision) any provision for adding information to the information that
may be recorded in the Register unless a draft of the order has been laid before
Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.
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(7)
A statutory instrument containing an order which—
(a)
contains provisions that the Secretary of State is authorised to make by
this section, and
(b)
is not an order a draft of which is required to have been laid before
Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House,
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shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of
Parliament.
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Designation of documents for purposes of registration etc.
(1)
The Secretary of State may by order designate a description of documents for
the purposes of this Act.
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(2)
The only documents that may be the subject of an order designating a
description of documents for the purposes of this Act are documents which
any of the persons mentioned in subsection (3) is authorised or required to
issue, whether by or under an enactment or otherwise.
(3)
Those persons are—
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(a)
a Minister of the Crown;
(b)
a government department;
(c)
a Northern Ireland department;
(d)
the National Assembly for Wales;
(e)
any other person who carries out functions conferred by or under any
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enactment that fall to be carried out on behalf of the Crown.

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(4)
The Secretary of State must not make an order containing (with or without
other provision) any provision that he is authorised to make by this section
unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a
resolution of each House.
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Applications relating to entries in Register
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(1)
An application by an individual to be entered in the Register may be made
either—
(a)
by being included in the prescribed manner in an application for a
designated document; or
(b)
by being submitted in the prescribed manner directly to the Secretary
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of State.
(2)
Where an application to be issued with a designated document is made by an
individual, the application may, if the individual so chooses, do one of the
following—
(a)
include an application by that individual to be entered in the Register;
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(b)
state that the individual is already entered in the Register and confirm
the contents of his entry;
(c)
state that the individual is entered in the Register and confirm the
contents of his entry subject to the changes notified in the application.
(3)
Where an individual makes—
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(a)
an application to be entered in the Register, or
(b)
an application which for the purposes of this Act confirms (with or
without changes) the contents of his entry in the Register,

the application must be accompanied by the prescribed information.
(4)
Where an individual has made an application falling within subsection (3)(a)
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or (b), the Secretary of State may require him to do such one or more of the
things specified in subsection (5) as the Secretary of State thinks fit for the
purpose of—
(a)
verifying information that may be entered in the Register about that
individual in consequence of that application; or
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(b)
otherwise ensuring that there is a complete, up-to-date and accurate
entry about that individual in the Register.
(5)
The things that an individual may be required to do under subsection (4) are—
(a)
to attend at an agreed place and time or (in the absence of agreement)
at a specified place and time;
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(b)
to allow his fingerprints, and other biometric information about
himself, to be taken and recorded;
(c)
to allow himself to be photographed;
(d)
otherwise to provide such information as may be required by the
Secretary of State.
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(6)
Regulations under this section must not require an individual to provide
information to another person unless it is information required by the
Secretary of State for the statutory purposes.
(7)
The power of the Secretary of State to make regulations containing (with or
without other provision) any provision that he is authorised to make by this
45
section is exercisable, on the first occasion on which regulations are made

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under this section, only if a draft of the regulations has been laid before
Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.
ID cards
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Issue etc. of ID cards
(1)
For the purposes of this Act an ID card is a card which—
5
(a)
is issued to an individual by the Secretary of State, or as part of or
together with a designated document; and
(b)
does, as respects that individual, both of the things specified in
subsection (2).
(2)
Those things are—
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(a)
recording registrable facts about the individual that are already
recorded as part of his entry in the Register;
(b)
carrying data enabling the card to be used for facilitating the making of
applications for information recorded in a prescribed part of the
individual’s entry in the Register, or for otherwise facilitating the
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provision of that information to a person entitled to be provided with it.
(3)
An ID card issued to an individual—
(a)
must record only the prescribed information;
(b)
must record prescribed parts of it in an encrypted form;
(c)
is valid only for the prescribed period; and
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(d)
remains the property of the person issuing it.
(4)
Except in prescribed cases, an ID card must be issued to an individual if he—
(a)
is entitled to be entered in the Register; and
(b)
is an individual about whom the prescribed registrable facts are
recorded in the Register.
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(5)
In prescribed cases an ID card may be issued to an individual who—
(a)
is not required to be issued with one; but
(b)
is an individual about whom the prescribed registrable facts are
recorded in the Register.
(6)
An ID card relating to an individual is not to be issued except on an application
30
made by him which either—
(a)
accompanies an application made by him to be entered in the Register;
or
(b)
in the prescribed manner confirms (with or without changes) the
contents of an entry already made in the Register for that individual.
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(7)
An individual who is not already the holder of an ID card may, if the
individual so chooses, in the prescribed manner, include an application to be
issued with such a card in every application made by him to be issued with a
designated document.
(8)
Other applications for the issue of an ID card—
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(a)
may be made only in the prescribed manner;
(b)
may be made to the Secretary of State or, in prescribed cases, to a
designated documents authority; and
(c)
must be accompanied by the prescribed information;

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and regulations for the purposes of paragraph (b) may authorise an application
to be made to a designated documents authority irrespective of whether an
application is made to that authority for the issue of a designated document.
(9)
The Secretary of State must not make regulations containing (with or without
other provision) any provision for prescribing—
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(a)
the information to be recorded in or on an ID card,
(b)
the form in which information is to be recorded in or on such a card, or
(c)
the registrable facts which are to be relevant for the purposes of
subsection (4)(b),

unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before Parliament and approved
10
by a resolution of each House.
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ID cards for those compulsorily registered
(1)
This section applies where an individual—
(a)
is subject to compulsory registration; and
(b)
is entered in the Register.
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(2)
If the individual—
(a)
holds a valid ID card that is due to expire within the prescribed period,
or
(b)
does not hold a valid ID card,

he must apply for one within the prescribed period.
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(3)
Where an individual applies for an ID card in pursuance of this section, the
Secretary of State may require him to do such one or more of the things
specified in subsection (4) as the Secretary of State thinks fit for the purpose
of—
(a)
verifying information provided for the purposes of the application; or
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(b)
otherwise ensuring that there is a complete, up-to-date and accurate
entry about that individual in the Register.
(4)
The things that an individual may be required to do under subsection (3) are—
(a)
to attend at an agreed place and time or (in the absence of agreement)
at a specified place and time;
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(b)
to allow his fingerprints, and other biometric information about
himself, to be taken and recorded;
(c)
to allow himself to be photographed;
(d)
otherwise to provide such information as may be required by the
Secretary of State.
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(5)
An individual who contravenes—
(a)
a requirement imposed by subsection (2), or
(b)
a requirement imposed under subsection (3),

shall be liable to a civil penalty not exceeding £1,000.
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Functions of persons issuing designated documents
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(1)
A designated documents authority may issue a designated document to an
individual only if—

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