Registration
Section 1: The National Identity Register
15.This section required the Secretary of State to establish the National Identity Register for the ID cards scheme and sets out the purposes of the Register.
16.Subsection (2) provides that the Register is only for specified purposes, the “statutory purposes”. These specified purposes are set out in subsection (3) as the:
provision of a convenient method for individuals to prove their identity to persons who reasonably require proof;
provision of a secure and reliable means of identifying individuals where that is in the public interest.
17.Subsection (4) defines ‘necessary in the public interest’ as being in the interests, or for the purposes of:
National security;
Prevention and detection of crime;
Enforcement of immigration controls;
Enforcement of prohibitions on unauthorised working or employment; and
Efficient and effective provision of public services.
18.National security as well as the prevention and detection of crime include action to prevent terrorism. Crime also includes “identity fraud and theft”.
19.Subsections (5) to (8) give further explanation about the personal information which may be recorded on the Register and which is central to the scheme. This information is known as the “registrable facts” and includes name, date and place of birth, nationality, gender, immigration status, address, external characteristics of a person that are capable of being used for identification purposes (e.g. biometric information), and information included at a person’s request. These “registrable facts” may only be amended by further primary legislation and thereby limit the scope of the information that may be held under the scheme.
20.Subsection (6) excludes any identification number being recorded that would tend to reveal sensitive personal data as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998. Section 2 of that Act provides that sensitive personal data includes information about matters such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, sexual life and the commission of offences. So, for example, a Police National Computer (PNC) reference number would tend to reveal whether an individual has a criminal record and would thus be excluded by subsection (6).
21.Biometric information is defined in section 42(1) in relation to an individual as data about his external characteristics. Examples include iris patterns and fingerprints. This biometric information may be recorded in the Register by virtue of the definition of registrable facts, section 3 and Schedule 1.
Section 2: Individuals entered in Register
22.This section sets out who may be entered on to the Register and the Secretary of State’s duty to make arrangements to enable these entries to be made.
23.Subsection (2) sets out the individuals who are entitled to be entered on the Register. These include individuals who have attained the age of 16 and are residing in the UK. They also include individuals of a description prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State who have resided in the UK, or who are proposing to enter the UK. This is to allow flexibility because although the ID card will be for all UK residents, it may be in the future that the Government would want, through regulations, to allow, for example, British citizens resident overseas to register before returning to live in the UK.
24.Subsection (3) gives the Secretary of State power, by regulations, to exclude individuals from the entitlement to be entered on the Register if they do not meet prescribed requirements in relation to time of residence in the UK (intended to be 3 months) or if they are residing despite having no entitlement to remain (for example, individuals who are seeking asylum in the UK).
25.In general, an entry on the Register must be made if an application is made and the person is entitled to be entered (subsection (1)).
26.Subsection (4) provides that in some circumstances, a person who has not applied or is not entitled may be entered into the Register for reasons consistent with the statutory purposes. For example, this power would allow the entry on to the Register of a failed asylum seeker who had not applied for an ID card but whose information including biometric data was available. This means that if he applies to stay in the UK again using a different identity, his previous status as a failed asylum seeker will have been recorded. This subsection does not constitute a power to obtain the biometric data of a person in the first place.
27.Subsection (5) provides for every person registered on the National Register to be assigned a unique number, the National Identity Registration Number to be attached to the information recorded about an individual. The format of the National Identity Registration Number is to be specified in regulations. Other personal reference numbers, such as driver number or national insurance number, may also be recorded on the Register as provided for in Schedule 1, paragraph 4.
28.Subsections (6) and (7) provide that the Secretary of State may modify the age of entry on the Register by order subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, that is to say, requiring approval in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Section 3: Information Recorded in Register
29.Section 3 sets out the information that may be recorded in the Register.
30.Subsection (1) provides that information may only be entered in the Register or remain on the Register if it is consistent with the statutory purposes for it to be recorded
31.Subsection (2) is an exhaustive list of four categories of information which may be held on the Register. The first is the information listed in Schedule 1 (as to which see paragraph [35] below). The second is technical information required for the administration of the Register. The third is technical information required for the issue and cancellation of ID cards. The fourth is additional information about an individual which has been recorded on the Register at his request in accordance with subsection (3).
32.Subsection (3) enables other information to be recorded if:
an individual has asked for it to be included;
regulations include it as information that may be subject to such a request;
and
the Secretary of State agrees.
For example, an individual may ask for emergency contact details to be included on the Register.
33.Subsection (4) provides that an individual’s entry on the Register must include information falling within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1, about occasions on which information has been provided from his entry without his consent.
34.Subsection (5) enables the Secretary of State to agree with a person being registered what facts should be registered where there is some doubt as to what the true facts are, for example, place or date of birth. It could also be used where a new identity needs to be established, for example, for those in a witness protection programme. It would prevent the false identity documents offences in section 25 from applying.
35.Schedule 1 may be amended by secondary legislation following a resolution in both Houses of Parliament (subsections (6)-(8)) to add to the list of information that may be recorded on the Register. However, because of subsection (1), any additional information must be consistent with the statutory purposes of the Register. So, for example, this power to amend Schedule 1 could not be used to include criminal records in that Schedule without further primary legislation, as recording previous criminal convictions is not covered by the definition of registrable facts and so is not consistent with the statutory purposes of the Register in section 1(3).
Section 4: Designation of documents for purposes of registration etc.
36.Section 4 provides for the Secretary of State to have the power by order to designate documents for the purposes of the Act, for example, passports. Any orders will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. These documents are referred to in the Act as “designated documents”. Persons responsible for issuing designated documents are referred to in the Act as “designated documents authorities”. If a document is designated, anyone applying for one will simultaneously need to apply to be entered in the Register, unless he is already so registered (see section 5(2)). He would also need to apply for an ID Card unless he already has one. There is, however, an exception to the requirement to apply for an ID Card where the designated document being applied for is a British passport and the application is made before 1st January 2010 (see subsection 6(7)).
37.Subsection (2) provides that the Secretary of State may only designate documents which are issued by the persons set out in subsection (3), namely a Minister of the Crown, a government department, a Northern Ireland department, the National Assembly for Wales, or any other person who carries out statutory functions on behalf of the Crown.
Section 5: Applications relating to entries in Register
38.Section 5 sets out how an application for entry to the Register should be made.
39.Subsection (1) provides that an application can be made by being included in an application for a designated document or by being submitted directly to the Secretary of State.
40.Under subsection (2), if an application for a designated document is submitted, then the application must also include one of the following:
an application to be entered in the Register;
confirmation that the individual is already registered and confirming his entry;
confirmation that the individual is already registered and notifying changes to his entry.
References to confirming an entry relate only to the information in paragraphs 1 to 5 of Schedule 1 or information voluntarily added (section 42(4)).
41.For example if, as is intended, passports were designated documents, an individual in applying for a passport must at the same time include an application to be entered in the Register if he is not already entered in the Register or else confirm his entry. In practice, information on the designated document application form is likely to include all the information needed to create an entry on the Register or to verify an existing entry.
42.Subsection (3) provides that an application for registration or confirmation of entry should be accompanied by such information as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State. The information required may vary for different categories of person. For example, third country nationals may be required to provide information regarding their immigration status.
43.Under subsection (4) the Secretary of State may make further requirements of applicants in order to verify information to be entered on the Register and keep that information up to date, for example, in cases of doubt or suspected fraud.
44.Subsection (5) expands on what an individual applying to be entered in the Register or confirming his entry in the Register may be required to do under subsection (4). This includes attending in person at an agreed place and time (or in the absence of agreement, at a specified place and time), agreeing to be photographed, allowing biometric information to be recorded and providing any other information that may be required by the Secretary of State. “Biometric information” and “fingerprint” are defined in section 42(1).
45.Subsection (6) ensures that information may not be required by regulations under this section unless it is for the statutory purposes of the scheme as set out in section 1(3) and consistent with the recording of the registrable facts. This is to ensure that there is no expansion in the scope of information that must be provided by individuals without new primary legislation.
46 Subsection (7) provides that on the first occasion that the Secretary of State makes regulations under Section 5, these regulations must be laid in draft before Parliament and approved by the affirmative resolution procedure. In the case of any subsequent regulations, the negative resolution procedure will apply.
