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Identity Cards Bill

The answer is that no such decisions have been made at this point. As I was saying, the costs do not include the costs incurred by other Government Departments as a way of improving their services to the public any more than they include the costs to private sector companies, such as banks or building societies, that decide in the future to use identity cards as a way of verifying people’s identity. Indeed, it would be odd if they did. Decisions on any future investment—for example, in IT systems that might be required to make the best use of identity cards—will be made in due course, and not now, by the organisation concerned on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis.