County councillors in East Sussex are set to debate controversial government plans to introduce digital ID.
The issue will be discussed at a full council meeting next Tuesday, following a motion from Liberal Democrat councillor David Tutt.
The proposal calls on the council to formally oppose the plans and urges leader Keith Glazier to raise concerns with MPs and ministers.
It also highlights fears that some residents could be excluded under a national ID system, and calls on the county council to “work with local voluntary, digital inclusion and civil liberties groups to ensure that no resident in East Sussex is penalised or excluded as a result of any national identification scheme.”
This wording is similar to a model motion published by the Local Government Association’s Liberal Democrat Group in December.
This model motion had been published before the government reversed its plans to make digital ID compulsory for anyone starting a new job.
This change in position is set out within a briefing paper written by county council officers, which is intended to accompany the motion.
In this briefing paper, a county council spokesman said: “In the initial announcement [in September], the government set out the scheme positing it as a potential tool to help combat illegal working, streamline certain public services (such as driving licences, welfare etc.) and to introduce a mandatory form of identification for right to work checks.
“Since then the government has made changes to the proposal following the expression of public and political concerns. The ID will now be an optional feature which residents can decide whether to hold.
“However, the government is still proceeding to make electronic right-to-work checks mandatory by 2029, but other mechanisms such as e-passports can be used in place of a mandated digital ID.”
The briefing paper says the government is still in the process of consulting on these proposals.
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