ID cards for the UK - Timeline

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6 February 2007: The Conservative Party announces plans to break contracts with IT suppliers for the national ID scheme if elected. The comments of Shadow Home Secretary David Davis are met with heavy criticism from Intellect, the trade association for the UK IT industry.

9 February 2007: Davis responds to the criticism from Intellect, saying that the firm does not understand the depth of his party's opposition to the proposed national ID plan.

12 April 2007: Newly-released figures show that identity theft has increased by almost 70 per cent year-on-year. Experian, the information services firm reporting the rise, claims that company directors and business owners are the most popular targets.

10 May 2007: In the first of two mandatory budget reports to Parliament in 2007, the Home Office predicts the ID scheme will incur start-up costs of £290 million and operational costs of £4.6 billion between 2006 and 2016. These figures are up £40 million from the previous year, a figure "not all that significant" in the overall project.

19 June 2007: A Home Office minister claims ID cards would be a "public good," comparable to railways and the National Grid. Liam Bryne, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality, predicts the identity scheme will be a normal part of life in Britain in 20 years.

10 August 2007: The selection process begins to determine the companies that will be suppliers for the ID card project.

17 August 2007: The Local Government Network suggests that localised ID cards would be safer and cheaper than the national plan. A report issued by the think tank claims that 80 per cent of the public's contact with central government comes through local offices, implying these departments would be better equipped to handle the ID cards.

18 September 2007: Over 50 potential suppliers express interest in the ID card plan at a conference held for bidders in the multi-billion pound ID card contract.

2 October 2007: A trial run of ID cards used in criminal background checks is declared a success by the Home Office. The study by the Criminal Records Bureau and the Identity and Passport Service tested two online services requiring passports or ID cards for background checks of applicants.

19 October 2007: The Identity and Passport Service announces it has narrowed the list of potential suppliers for the ID card project from 11 to eight. The remaining bidders are Accenture, BAE Systems, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM, Steria and Thales.

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