IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Cabinet Office minister John Hutton announced the initiative in a speech on public service reform and social justice to the Social Market Foundation on 24 August 2005.

He said it would have to take into account complex data on people's experiences, and provide a usable model for all of the public sector. If it could be done, it would help institutions to identify and prioritise the actions needed to raise their levels of service.

It has broke down where the savings for the new Comprehensive Spending Review target of £35bn will come from. For each department it has given possible examples of where the department will create efficiency savings. Of the examples that involve IT, £1.526bn of savings could be made.

John Higgins, Director General of Intellect, commented: "The DTI reports prove what we have been saying for many years, that investment in and effective use of ICT increases productivity. The findings are consistent with recent statistics from the European Commission, showing that the ICT sector drives 40 percent of Europe's productivity growth and 25 percent of EU GDP growth. This is proof that countries that adopt, adapt and absorb the benefits of ICT, services and applications achieve significant benefits in terms of productivity, innovation, growth and quality of life. Vitally though, the reports have found that countries that invest heavily in ICT gain significant competitive advantage over countries that don't."

The Home Office has outlined plans for controlling access to ID card information in a bid to allay fears over misuse and to manage the possible load on the database system.

According to the government department, business and public sector organisations are to be given graded access depending on need.

The first stage of the UK identity cards programme is already underway, Computing can reveal.

The Home Office has invited bids for consultancy on the scheme, including developing the business case and setting the requirements specification.

The chairman of a group of Tory MPs issued a report yesterday slamming the government's plans for national identity cards.

In a paper published on the Bow Group's website, Peter Lilley MP, former Secretary of State for Trade And Industry, was highly critical of Labour's plans to introduce identity cards, branding them unworkable, expensive and potentially dangerous.

The Labour Party's re-election in the UK means that most large public sector IT projects look safe, but controversial plans to introduce ID cards are likely to be axed, according to industry analysts.

As Labour prepares for an unprecedented third term in power, Dr Eric Woods, government practice director at analyst firm Ovum, suggested that most of the government's major IT projects would have continued more or less unaltered even if there had been a change of government.

The government's plans for national identity cards are facing a series of setbacks after the legislation was reintroduced to parliament last week.

Experts at the London School of Economics (LSE) say costs could rise as high as £300 per person, on top of infrastructure costs of £18bn, according to a report seen by The Observer.

Significant reductions in the time required for a criminal records bureau (CRB) check will be one of the early benefits of the national identity cards scheme, according to Home Office officials behind the programme.

Once the scheme goes live, ID cards will be issued as part of the passport renewal process. The first cards will be issued from the end of 2008, but rollout will be gradual and few services making use of the cards are expected before 2010.