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December 07, 2004
12 Notification of changes affecting accuracy of Register
12 Notification of changes affecting accuracy of Register
(1) An individual to whom an ID card has been issued must notify the Secretary of State about—
(a) every prescribed change of circumstances affecting the information recorded about him in the Register; and
(b) every error in that information of which he is aware.
(2) A notification for the purposes of this section must be given—
(a) in the prescribed manner; and
(b) within the prescribed period after the change of circumstances occurs or he becomes aware of the error.
(3) Where an individual has given a notification for the purposes of this section, the Secretary of State may require him to do such one or more of the things falling within subsection (4) as the Secretary of State thinks fit for the purpose of—
(a) verifying the information that may be entered in the Register about that individual in consequence of the notified change or for the purpose of correcting the error; or
(b) otherwise ensuring that there is a complete, up-to-date and accurate entry about that individual in the Register.
(4) The things that an individual may be required to do under subsection (3) are—
(a) to attend at a specified place and time;
(b) to allow his fingerprints, and other biometric information about himself, to be taken and recorded;
(c) to allow himself to be photographed;
(d) otherwise to provide such information as may be required by the Secretary of State.
(5) Regulations under this section must not require an individual to provide information to another person unless it is information required by the Secretary of State for the statutory purposes.
(6) An individual who contravenes a requirement imposed on him by or under this section shall be liable to a civil penalty not exceeding £1,000.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Clause 12: Notification of changes affecting accuracy of Register
80. This clause sets out how changes in circumstances should be notified in order to maintain the accuracy of the Register.
81. Subsection (1) places a registered person under a duty to notify the Secretary of State of any change in his circumstances that may be prescribed, for example, change of address or change of name, and to notify the Secretary of State of every error in the information held about him of which he is aware. This will enable the Register to maintain accurate information. The notification procedures are to be set out in regulations (subsection (2)).
82. Further information may be required to verify the information that may be entered as a consequence of the notification or to ensure that the entry is up to date (subsection (3)). This requirement to provide further information may include personal attendance, being photographed, allowing biometric information to be recorded or otherwise providing information. Again "fingerprint" and "biometric information" are defined in clause 43(1). The information that may be required by regulations under this clause may only be required if it is consistent with the statutory purposes (subsection (5)).
83. Subsection (6) provides that the maximum penalty for failure to comply with a requirement under this clause is a civil penalty of £1,000.
Amendments up to and including Friday 14th January 2005 page 3
Patrick Mercer Mr Humfrey Malins Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Mr Richard Allan Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 10, line 32, at end insert—
'(1A) For the purposes of ensuring that an individual is able to comply with his duty under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must at least once every two years send in a prescribed manner to each individual to whom an ID card has been issued at his prescribed address a copy of the information recorded as at a prescribed date about that individual in the Register.'.
Mr Richard Allan Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 11, line 2, leave out paragraph (b).
Mr Richard Allan
Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 11, line 2, leave out ', and other biometric information about himself,'.
Patrick Mercer
Mr Humfrey Malins
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
Clause 12, page 11, line 10, after 'who', insert 'intentionally'.
Mr Richard Allan
Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 11, line 11, leave out '£1000' and add '£50'.
Mr Richard Allan
Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 11, line 11, at end add—
'(7) The Secretary of State shall make provision for local facilities to satisfy the attendance requirements of subsection (5)(a).
(8) The Secretary of State shall make provision for home visits to people unfit to travel to satisfy the requirements of subsection (5)(a).'.
Mr Richard Allan Mr Alistair Carmichael
Clause 12, page 11, line 11, at end add—
'(7) The Secretary of State shall make no charge for changes to the Register required by this section.'.
Posted by wtwu at December 7, 2004 05:15 PM
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Comments
12.
1a) The most important part here is surely that the card holder is required to inform the "register" of any changes to his address(es), or face a fine or, if the fine is denied, possible imprisonment.
That there is not a prescribed time limit mentioned within which the information must be rectified is a little concerning also, although this may be included elsewhere and have escaped my notice.
It is interesting to note that a very similar requirement was under Stalin and the Tsars before him, and i believe still is, made of Russian citizens.
This was called the "Propiska", and was only more intrusive than Blunketts version in that it required everybody to inform the nearest Police station if they were away from their registered address for more than 72 hours at a time.
Papers Comrade!
Posted by: jymjim at December 13, 2004 09:31 AM
Previous comments on Draft ID Card Bill:
"Parliament should state, on the face of the Bill, exactly what the administrative burden that the Bill will impose on people to keep the Register accurate and up to date.
There must be no arbitrary power to muck around with "prescribed periods" etc.
Any such changes will have a massive knock on effect on the whole project and will cost millions to implement. Decisions of this magnitude should only be taken with proper Parliamentary scrutiny and debate on primary legislation.
c.f. comments above on clause 9 (4) regarding forced attendance at a specified time and place.
RECCOMENDATION:
Define the "prescribed period" etc. on the face of the Bill.
Remove Section 12 (4) the power to compell arbitrary time and location attendance by petty officials or private sector sub-contactors.
Make it a positive duty on Government to provide local or mobile enrolment offices."
The messy subclause (7) regarding amendments to this clause by secondary legislation seems to have been removed from what was published in the Draft ID Card Bill.
Posted by: wtwu at December 13, 2004 12:56 PM