ID card critic trashes government report
David Meyer writes on the ZDNet UK web site:
A leading critic of the Government’s identity cards programme has lashed out at the official estimated cost of the scheme.
Professor Ian Angell, of the information systems department at the London School of Economics, told ZDNet UK that the report issued to Parliament on Monday was a “political document” that dodged the complexity inherent in such a massive IT project.
Professor Angell pointed out that Monday’s document — entitled “First Section 37 Report to Parliament about the Likely Costs of the ID Cards Scheme” — devoted just half a page out of 13 to actual figures. These state that set-up costs will be £290m and operational costs will total £5.1bn over 10 years.
The rest of the document mostly covers the supposed benefits of the scheme and the terms of the Identity Cards Act 2006.
Prof Angell disagrees with the Home Office on the purpose of the six-monthly reports:
One particular paragraph in the report refers to the requirement, in Section 37 of the Identity Cards Act, that the Government provide Parliament with a six-monthly costs report, saying: “The requirement to publish six-monthly cost reports to Parliament is not necessarily aligned with the programme’s lifecycle. As a result, it may not always be possible to provide updated costs estimates in each report.”
Professor Angell suggested this indicated the Home Office was misinterpreting the intention behind the cost report requirement, saying: “A cost report is a cost report — you should know how much you have spent to date. What Parliament did not want is the latest guesstimate, it’s ‘How much have you spent so far?’”.
A comprehensive reply from the LSE to the Government’s report is imminent; meanwhile a preliminary response is available via the LSE Identity Project page, here.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:32
So its not just the benefits(so called)that the home office are lying about,now its the cost.Does anyone now believe a single word that these pathological liars say anymore.The sooner this corrupt and lying government is put out of office,the better for all of us.