The procurement framework for the national ID card scheme will be in place by the end of the year, with the first contract awards scheduled for the second quarter of 2008, according to the latest timetable.

Sources say formal bidding for inclusion on the framework list is expected to start before the end of June.

A group of up to five major suppliers are expected to be included on a framework covering generic terms and conditions. Specific components of the scheme, such as customer services or biometrics, will then be allocated by mini-competitions within the four-year period of the overall deal.

The structure is designed to ensure value for money, improve collaboration between government and suppliers, and lessen the burden of the complex EU procurement process, says the Identity and Passport Service (IPS), the Home Office agency responsible for the scheme.

Suppliers are broadly supportive of the planned approach.

‘A framework should enable faster procurements and a more flexible approach, which is good when you don’t know what’s going to happen or quite what you want to do,’ said a senior source.

‘It is important to be more flexible than locking companies into long-term contracts.

‘We know for certain there will be lots of changes over the time span of the programme, and getting stuck into long-term contracts at this stage would be walking into another potential IT disaster,’ said the source.

The plan is for a ‘hub and spoke’ arrangement, with the National Identity Register (NIR) at the centre and a range of services such as application or identity checking adding capabilities.

‘Providers of user services as spokes in the system will then be responsible for providing solutions that are capable of integrating with the hub,’ says procurement documentation issued by the IPS.

* The London School of Economics is calling for an independent review of the scheme, following publication by the IPS last week of cost estimates more than £400m higher than previous predictions.