IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Conservatives have expressed concern after it emerged that council bureaucrats are to be armed with sweeping new powers to snoop on private homes for ID card evasion.

Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary Oliver Heald accused Labour ministers of adopting "Big Brother" methods to enforce planned new ID card rules, which could include imposing fines of up to £2,500.

As the shadow minister responsible for e-government, Mr Heald said: "There is growing concern amongst the public about Labour's use of invasive 'Big Brother' computer databases - without transparency or clear backing from the public - such as for the forthcoming council tax revaluation. I believe local residents will be alarmed at the further prospect of town hall bureaucrats being told to investigate people's homes for ID Cards, backed up with the threat of thousand pound fines."

He declared: "If the Government was serious about reducing electoral fraud, identity cards aren't needed. The tried and tested system of individual registration, used successfully in Northern Ireland, shows how existing and widely accepted National Insurance numbers can confirm the existence of electors and stamp out postal vote fraud."

Mr Heald's comments came after the small print of an obscure Government consultation paper, released just before Christmas on a new centralised electronic electoral register, revealed that town hall officials may be asked to police the administration of Labour's controversial new ID Card Database.

Under the Government's plans, local residents face fines of up to £2,500 for not registering or keeping their details up to date with the new national ID Card Agency.

The electoral register proposals, published by Lord Falconer's Department for Constitutional Affairs, reveals that the new electoral database will also be connected to the ID Card Database, and council officials will be required to 'investigate' any discrepancies. This could mean that councils end up acting as the local 'police' for the ID Card Agency, and track down those who fail to inform the State of their new address or new family circumstances.

Under Labour's ID Card scheme, residents may be forced to pay fees to register a new address, and experts from the London School of Economics have already raised concerns over who exactly will police the scheme and the requirement to inform the State of one's movements.

Quelle: Conservatives, 09.01.2006