Mr Alan Cox

Email: [email address]

Reference: FOICR 12687/09

Date: 18 September 2009

Dear Mr Cox,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your email of 19 August to the Home Office in which you ask for copies of the environmental impact assessment on Identity Cards. Your request was passed to me for a reply and has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

You have asked for:-

a. the environmental impact assessments that were made on the cards before a final design was selected;

b. the estimate of the number of cards that will be recycled or disposed of each year once the scheme is running fully;

c. the planned procedure for the recycling of cards.

The IPS response is below:-

We believe that the information that you have asked for is already reasonably accessible to you. It can be accessed on the Identity and Passport Service website at www.ips.gsi.gov.uk. I have attached an electronic link to a document entitled `Identity Cards Act Secondary legislation: An Impact Assessment, which addresses your area of interest:- http://www.ips.gov.uk/cps/rde/xchg/ips_live/hs.xsl/1046.htm?advanced=&searchoperator=&searchmodifier=&verb=&search_date_from=&search_date_to=&stage=&search_event_subject=&search_category=&search_query=&search_scope=&search_group=&varChunk=

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act exempts the Identity and Passport Service from complying with the duty to supply you with this information on the grounds that it is already in the public domain. Should you have difficulties in accessing this information by the means listed above please do not hesitate to contact me again.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our decision by submitting your complaint to:

Information Rights Team
Information and Record Management Service
Home Office
4th Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Email: [email address]

During the independent review the department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by members of staff who were not involved in providing you with this response.

Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Yours faithfully,

Hazel Reid

Freedom of Information Team

Passport Adviceline: 0300 222 0000 (24 hours a day, seven days a week).

Email us at [email address]. Visit our website at www.ips.gov.uk.

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