Identity cards set to be scrapped

Second-generation biometric passports will be scrapped alongside ID cards and the National Identity Register by the new Tory-LibDem government, probably as part of a merger between the LibDem Freedom Bill, and the Great Repeal Bill advocated by some sections of the Tory party. It isn't as yet entirely clear what will be in this Bill, but there is sufficient common ground between the two parties for it to be one of the easier tasks for the new government.

Both parties went into the election committed to scrapping ID cards and the NIR, and though the LibDems were the only major UK party to pledge to add biometric passport enhancements (adding fingerprints, and possibly other weird stuff if you believe Meg Hillier) to the bonfire, the UK has no international obligation to deliver a second-generation passport. They would have been a tempting and easy cut for the Tories if they'd been able to govern on their own.

Although both parties intended to scrap the NIR, it's not yet clear how the new government will do this, and it's more complicated than it looks. The LibDem Freedom Bill deals with the whole ID matter thus:
(1) The Identity Cards Act 2006 (c.15) (which establishes the National Identity Register) is repealed.

Which is commendably brief, but doesn't address how the Identity and Passport Service (which will need a new name, for a start) will be constituted after that Act is repealed. IPS could be turned back into something along the lines of the old Passport Service, but that will also need to be legislated for, and the organisation's switch from a document-centric to a person-centric approach (which occurred before the ID Cards Act was passed) means that it will continue to be about identity unless someone does something about it.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/12/tory_libdem_id_scrappings/

The UK has been issuing “biometric” passports (also known as “ePassports”) since 2006.
The passports include a microchip which stores a digitised image of the holder’s passport
photograph as well as the biographical details printed on the passport. Non-biometric
passports continue to be valid until they expire.

In 2012 the Government intends to begin to issue “second generation” ePassports, which will
include fingerprint data. It has not set an exact date for this yet, but it intends to amend the
Identity Cards Act 2006 in order to establish a single application process which will enable
persons to obtain a biometric passport and/or identity card. This means that in the future,
passport applicants will have their identity details and biometrics stored on the National
Identity Register.

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snha-04126.pdf