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31 Oct 2007

What happened to the Crosby review?

So why hasn’t all that promising hard work by Sir James Crosby for Gordon Brown seen the light of day? Remember, he was looking into what Britain needs from ID management from a public-private business point of view. The Crosby review began in Sept 06, was due by Easter 07, then “being finalised” in early July, then due “late summer” (07, one assumes), then thought likely to appear with the CSR, but...zip.

If I had to guess I’d say Sir James came to the sensible conclusion that the market (ie British business) does not need what the government has asked James Hall’s IPS to deliver, and that nothing he has heard independently suggests that IPS’s business case stacks up. I very much doubt he has any evidence that people generally want what IPS is doing. So his recommendation may be that it is an irrelevance, or needs fundamental change.

But the ID cards policy is what makes Labour look tough on crime. Chuck it away and they look as soft as Tories or LibDems, the thinking goes. So it’s sacrosanct, even though the business case doesnt stack up, it’s technically ludicrous, people dont want it and it offends common sense and human dignity. In project terms, it fails Gateway Zero but sneaks through on some irrational derogation.

If that’s it then the review as Crosby would write it would be unpublishable, and there won’t be any market sizing or business case other than IPS’s own flawed and partial one. Crosby’s work would only come out in dribs and drabs under FoI with HM Treasury resisting all the way.

That’s what I reckon has happened. But if anyone knows better, or has a different guess, drop us a line or a comment.

• Posted by William Heath on 31/10/07 at 5:34pm
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