The Government is to spend £400,000 destroying the personal data collected under the National Identity Card programme, despite refusing to refund triallers of the scheme, which would have cost about the same.
Home Office minister Damian Green revealed the move in a Commons reply to Paul Goggins MP, although Green admitted the total cost of asset write-offs will be £5m in 2010-2011.
The destruction will be carried by a GCHQ-approved supplier in accordance with established secure destruction policy, procedures and guidelines, said Green.
But the 15,000 people who paid £30 each to join a trial of the scheme are unlikely to get a penny back.
As part of the trial – in Manchester – consumers were encouraged to sign up for the card, which contains biometric information and other details allowing travel in the EU without the need for a passport. The card was valid for ten years.
Yet after the Coalition decided to scrap the ID Card programme, due to the huge costs involved, trial members have been told that from next year the card will no longer be valid.
The Coalition is also refusing the refund their money, claiming that, at this time of huge spending cuts, it cannot afford the £450,000 plus admin costs this would incur.
