Department of Work and Pensions has decided to appeal against the Information Commissioner's ruling on 8 June 2006 that its three feasibility reports on the potential impact of ID Cards on identity fraud – one of the key reasons the Government have used to justify the cards – must be published under the Freedom of Information Act, reports the Beeb. The appeal will be heard by the Information Tribunal.
The Lib Dems say it is disappointing that the government is still trying to "cover up the facts about ID cards". Home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "The public has a right to know if the billions of pounds the government is committing to this massive project will be money well spent."
The Government said at the time that making them public could make it harder to get value for money [money seems to be the only thing that matter to Blair's people] when the government handed out contracts to firms to set up the scheme, and said that releasing such information prematurely could stop ministers and officials discussing the pros and cons of policies.
But Information Commissioner Richard Thomas ruled that the benefits of releasing them outweighed the fact that the information was exempt from the full scope of the FOI Act. "There is clearly a strong public interest in the public knowing whether the introduction of identity cards will bring benefits to the DWP, and to other government departments, and if so what those benefits will be," he said. He argued the reports would help informed public debate of the ID card issue – including whether it ought to be compulsory to carry the cards.
Is this just another delaying tactic to get them a few more months along the ID Card track?
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