Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 239Other ChallengesThe Government was originally sensitive to the complexities of the proposed systemand the mechanisms necessary to ensure the success of a large-scale computer systemthat applies to 60 million people. Such a scheme would need to cater for various groupsof people who may find it difficult to participate in the scheme, for example: thehousebound, those living in sparsely populated areas, homeless people or ‘those of anitinerant lifestyle’, mentally ill people and those fleeing abusive relationships, who maywish to live under another identity. 645 Suggestions for the above categories involvesome sort of home-delivery based scheme, 646 the use of third parties 647 and flexibilitytowards the use of an alias. 648 Later statements of Government intent are not as clearregarding these remote facilities and exceptional cases.Staff costs are also a factor. In 2002 the Home Office predicted that staff costs wouldincrease across the board in UKPS, DVLA and DVLNI. Additionally, the staff costsare likely to rise due to the recording or validating of information and additional checkson Government or other databases. 649 The number of staff required is predicted tofluctuate, peaking during the six-year roll out, when the majority of the population isexpected to join the scheme. Factors affecting cost include any potential teethingproblems, high numbers of suspected fraudulent applications or, conversely, betteridentification of fraudulent applications, allowing a greater proportion to proceed to thefast track. 650 The central estimate for staff costs is £62 million over 13 years and thisfigure remains unaltered due to expertise in administering operations of this size. 651The NPL/BTexact report differs from the Government on the staff cost figures. Thestaff cost for enrolment is estimated at £330 million. It is difficult to compare this figurewith that provided by the Home Office, as the latter uses the overlap with the existingUKPS and DVLA staff and therefore includes only additional staff costs, which itplaces at £62 million over 13 years. However, the report does not indicate whether the£330 million quoted includes this overlap.In addition to the extra staff required, essential staff training will produce a further drainon resources, particularly in efforts to improve fraud prevention and detection. TheUKPS not only plans to run refresher training courses for current staff, it also plans thecreation of specialist fraud and intelligence units. 652The Government has also proposed income-generation schemes for the card process. In2002 it introduced the concept of charging private sector service providers for anauthentication service and charging other service providers for use of the card toadminister their own services. 653 This form of charge should be incorporated into acosting scheme so that the full cost to the citizen/consumer is better understood.Similarly, at the time when a rise in the price of the driver’s licence and the passport645 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 97.646 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 99.647 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 100.648 Consultation Document, Section 4, 2002, paragraph 101.649 Consultation Document, Section 5, 2002, paragraph 20.650 Consultation Document, Section 5, 2002, paragraph 21.651 Consultation Document, Section 5, 2002, paragraph 22.652 ‘Confirming nationality and Identity and Enabling Travel’, page 16653 Consultation Document, Section 5, 2002, paragraph 35.