United Kingdom Passport Service and ID Card Enrolment CWU Constituency Supported MPs Tuesday 8 th October Presentation by Andy Furey, Assistant Secretary

Background The UK Passport Service issued an OJEC notice in December 2004, seeking the provision of 70 High Street offices for first time passport applicant interviews This procurement is part of an initial change in the way that first time passports are processed – new applicants will be required to attend an interview before a passport is issued The procurement is currently underway and the successful bidder is due to be selected by the end of November 2005 The UKPS has a strong preference for procuring their own channel on the High Street, separate to any other function

The Wider Importance of the UKPS Procurement The Government has introduced major policies designed to strengthen authentication of citizens and to address ID fraud The Government has reintroduced the ID Card Bill in the current session of Parliament, with Royal Assent targeted for early in the new year A new Executive Agency covering the UKPS and ID Card functions will be formed to deliver the programme A retail presence on the High Street will be required to provide a citizen interface Whichever company succeeds in winning the current UKPS procurement will be in a strong position to provide these services in the future

Post Office Ltd Involvement POL has built a successful business around ID checks – the company currently provides Passport Check and Send service for UKPS, also assists in the following ID related processes : Driving Licence Photocards E111 Form/Card ID Verification Services for solicitors and medical recruitment agencies Post Office Ltd responded to the UKPS procurement and was shortlisted for the final round of the tender process

Post Office Ltd’s Decision to Withdraw from the Process POL decided to withdraw from the tender process in September 2005 because: The tender was clearly aimed at securing separate dedicated properties and therefore the Post Office network could not be used for the purpose The proposed contract term was too short (3 year contract with possible two year extension) The space requirements for each office were too large to accommodate in the existing Post Office network For these reasons POL decided that the commercial risks outweighed the benefits and they withdrew from the process The parameters of the bid process seem to be deliberately designed to preclude a compliant bid from POL

The CWU’s View The CWU strongly believes that Passport and ID Card services should be provided through the Post Office network because: POL management and employees have years of experience in providing ID related services The POL network of offices already exists – utilising this network would avoid unnecessary expenditure on a new High St network Security sensitive services like passport interviews should not be provided through private companies where publicly owned and accountable alternatives exist Failure to give the Post Office network a meaningful role in this area will further undermine the long term financial viability of this important public asset

Recent Developments A job advert has recently appeared in the national press, to recruit a variety of different managers to oversee the first time passport applicant interviews An Early Day Motion is being tabled drawing attention to the issues covered in this presentation and calling upon the Government to utilise the Post Office network to carry out passport applicant interviews We are currently in the process of drawing up possible amendments to the ID Cards Bill. For information, the closing date for the receipt of these amendments is Thursday 10 th November, and the Bill is timetabled to have its third reading in the House of Lords on the 15 th, 16 th and 23 rd of November Meeting with Tony McNulty MP on Monday 14 th November

What Should Happen Next Bearing in mind the tight timescales, we need to exert the maximum influence to achieve the overriding objective of making POL a key channel for the delivery of Government services in relation to passport applications and the ID Card Bill