Any civil penalties will be determined in accordance with sections 31 to 34 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 and, in particular, the code of practice on penalties. This code will be published before the commencement of the national identity scheme and will set out the matters that must be considered when determining whether a civil penalty should be imposed and, if so, the amount of the penalty.
Precise details of how those liable for civil penalties will be identified are yet to be determined.
I regret that the latest report on the estimated costs of the identity cards scheme was not published six months after publication of the first report as not all the contents could be finalised in time. However, it was published some four weeks after the due date, on 10 May 2007, by way of a written ministerial statement, and this short delay must be seen in the light of the 10 year period covered by the report.