This follows last week's rumours that this was going to be the outcome on this contract.

The Government has chosen the company to work as its development partner on the Identity Cards programme, to help determine the best way of designing and implementing the scheme.

The company will work on the design, feasibility testing, business case and procurement elements of the programme. As the programme proceeds it will be subject to regular Office of Government Commerce Gateway reviews.

Mr Blunkett said:

"The Government's plan to bring in a national UK Identity Cards scheme will bring enormous benefits to us as individuals and as a society.

"This is an ambitious, long-term project which will be introduced incrementally over a number of years. We are determined to get it right, and bringing in expertise from outside Government at this early stage will help us do that.

"Experience from previous projects has shown that early detailed work on feasibility and testing reduces the risks and increases success. Our work with our development partner is one of the key parts of our programme of work leading to the issuing of the first identity cards from 2007/8."

The development of the Identity Cards programme will remain at all times in the control of the Home Office, which says there are safeguards to ensure that this contract does not reduce competition for later procurement exercises for the components to build the scheme. For this particular project, approaches were made to a number of companies who have framework agreements with the Office of Government Commerce to provide management and business consultancy to Government departments, with contract bids assessed on a Value for Money basis.

Related links to this article:

PA Consulting Group [1]

ID cards: Privacy International lashes out against the cards [3] (May 21, 2004)

ID cards: 1 million people would go to prison in protest says poll [4] (May 21, 2004)

ID cards: Law Society President expresses grave concerns [5] (May 21, 2004)

ID Cards: Home Affairs Committee to give ID Cards bill ‘thorough examination' [6]

ID Cards: Home Office consultation – have your say… [7]

ID Cards: Will benefit NHS says Health Minister John Hutton [8]

ID Cards: SNP opposes Glasgow trial says Annabelle Ewing MP [9]

ID Cards: Intellect conference to debate the next steps [10]

ID cards: Blunkett explains the Draft Bill [11]

ID Cards: Blunkett's Sunday statments - prior to draft Commons bill [12]

ID Cards: Liberty's opposing view [13]

ID Cards: Public warned not to ‘sleepwalk into technological future' [14]

ID Cards: Latest UK public opinion surveyed by MORI [15]

Anti-ID cards

Privacy International [16]

Liberty [17]

Stand [18]

The 1900 Trust [19]

Foundation for Information Policy Research [20]

Statewatch [21]

No2id [22]

Pro ID Cards:

The Home office draft legislation and consultation on ID Cards can be found here at this link [23]

Home Office [24]

Home Office Identity Cards Programme [25]

DVLA [26]

Atos Origin [27]

Evidence to House of Commons committees on ID Cards:

> Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee: Uncorrected transcript of Oral Evidence given by The Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, Home Secretary; Mr Desmond Browne MP, Minister of State for Citizenship and Immigration, Home Office; Katherine Courtney, Director, Identity Cards Programme, Home Office; Stephen Harrison, Head, Identity Card Policy Unit, Home Office: uploaded on 6 May 2004 [28]

> Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee: Uncorrected transcript of Oral Evidence given by Mr Len Cook, Registrar General for England and Wales; Mr Denis Roberts, Director for Registration Services, General Register Office; Rt Hon Charles Clarke, a Member of the House, Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills, Rt Hon John Hutton, a Member of the House, Minister of State (Health), and Mr Chris Pond, a Member of the House, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions: uploaded on 29 April 2004 [29]

> Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee: Uncorrected transcript of Oral Evidence given by Mr John Harrison, Edentity, Mr Andy Jebson, Director, Cubic Transportation Systems, Mr Richard Haddock, Chief Executive Officer, LaserCard Systems Corporation, and Mr Neill Fisher, Director of Security Solutions, QinetiQ: uploaded on 28 April 2004 [30]