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Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses for their contributions. If we had been more ambitious and produced what the noble Baroness called the harder categories or a much larger number, I wonder whether I would be standing here accused of pushing this through with great speed when we were not sure that we had the capacity to deal with it. Therefore, we have chosen to do exactly what we said we would do, which is to move incrementally in logical steps. The T4 regulations on the points system come in at the end of this month, so it makes perfect sense to bring those two things together. I am slightly hurt by the suggestion that we are doing it for reasons other than for those that we said. I know that both noble Baronesses have much less affection for identity cards than the Government or, indeed, I do, but I recognise the practical points that they made. Whatever their views, they are perfectly entitled to make them. They asked relevant questions about what these regulations will do. I shall try to deal with them, although not necessarily in the order in which they were asked. Postgraduate doctors and dentists need to apply to extend leave before their current authority to stay expires, which can be done up to three months before that date. There are a number of centres. At the moment, they are in Armagh, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihull. Over the coming months, we intend to make other venues across the country available. The question of mobile unit capacity where required brings me to a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, about people who come for private medical treatment. The requirement applies only when the person has been here for six months and wishes to stay beyond that. She made a point about people not being able to visit any of the centres that I named. There will be capacity to bring the equipment to the person rather than demanding that the person goes to the equipment. There is an ability to provide for an individual to have his biometrics taken without too much trouble or hardship for him. The biometrics are a facial image; they are not of irises. The card will contain the information that the noble Baroness identified. It will not have a great deal of information beyond that. It will hold basic biographical data. I have mentioned fingerprints and facial images. It will also hold the national identity registration number, which will be unique to the record of the individual. It will also record changes made and when a check is made against a record to verify identity. It will not hold information about a person’s medical, tax, pension or benefits records, any criminal history, occupation or any information about ethnicity or religious beliefs. I hope that that is reassuring. The vignette will have similar information. Both noble Baronesses asked why we have included domestic workers. The truth is that we have done so because we recognise that this group is particularly vulnerable to abuse. I am rather surprised that the Benches opposite would draw the conclusion that this would not be helpful. In the regulations and in normal life, we have regard to the fact that this is a particularly vulnerable group of people. We consider that enrolling their biometric features and fixing their identity is an additional measure to protect them from exploitation and trafficking. If abuse is taking place or passports or identity documents are being withheld and that comes to the attention of the authorities, it would be pursued. If someone is required to apply for an ID card and does not, would there be a sanction? The civil penalty would be in line with the code of practice that seeks to ensure that particular circumstances are taken account of. The civil penalty is up to £1,000, but circumstances would be taken into account. I am not sure that I have covered all the points made by the noble Baronesses. The final point was about the cost-benefit of this against the total cost of the operation. I do not think that that can be seen against just this part of the operation. We are talking about bringing this in over a period of years. It is a fully costed operation and we can make a judgment on it only when it is complete. The noble Baroness raised another point, which I am desperately trying to remember. I shall have to write to her on it. If she could remind me of the question that I have not answered, I could probably respond to it.