ID card project consultants named by the government

The government has revealed the company that is to be its first partner in the controversial ID card scheme.

The Home Office announced today that it has chosen PA Consulting to give it a hand with design, feasibility testing, business and procurement elements of the identity card scheme, with PA Consulting picked from a list of companies that already have framework agreements with the Office of Government Commerce.

PA Consulting was picked to do the job on a "value for money basis", according to the Home Office, after a competitive tender process.

According to Home Secretary David Blunkett, using feasibility research and testing, as well as private sector knowledge, would decrease the chances of the project ending up a failure.

It's estimated that the cost of rolling out the ID scheme will be about £3bn. Identity cards are expected to find their way into the public's wallets from 2007.