£35 biometric ID card charge may be scrapped

The government is considering scrapping the £35 charge for biometric ID cards over concerns the high fee could put people off and scupper widespread take-up.

The cost of the controversial £1.3bn scheme was to be partly funded through the higher fee for new biometric ID passport cards, which would more than double the current passport fee to £78.

According to Scotland on Sunday, however, the government is now preparing to scrap the £35 additional fee amid fears the high cost will deter people from taking part in the scheme.

There will be a wholesale review of the ID card project after the next general election, when the charge for the card will be re-examined.

MPs last week attacked the government's ID card plans as "incoherent" and "ill-thought through", while the data protection watchdog the Information Commission branded it "an expensive and dangerous folly". This hasn't deterred Home Secretary David Blunkett, who wants biometric cards introduced by 2007 and then made compulsory by 2013.

Meanwhile, mobile trials of the government's biometric ID card scheme will get underway this week starting in Macclesfield, where people can register their fingerprints, facial scans and irises.

The mobile facility is part of a nationwide trial aiming to enrol 10,000 volunteers around the UK who will have their biometric details recorded and put on a chip in a mock smart card.

Testing started in April in London, followed by Glasgow, Leicester and Newcastle. The mobile unit will be in Macclesfield for a week and will travel around other areas of the country, including Wales and the Home Counties.