To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department. what estimate he has for (a) the cost of and (b) the time scale necessary for introducing a national identity card.

[holding answer 6 May 1993]: In 1989 it was estimated that the cost (excluding initial capital costs) of issuing identity cards to all British citizens aged 12 or over could be around £350 million; and that the annual running costs of the system would probably be between £50 million and £100 million. The time scale necessary for introducing a card has not been estimated.