To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2007, Official Report, column 519W, on identity cards, how penalties under the Identity Cards Act 2006 will be communicated to those who incur them.

A formal notice will be issued under section 31 of the Identity Cards Act to inform a person of a decision to impose a civil financial penalty for failure to comply with a specific requirement, such as a failure to notify a change of circumstances (under section 10) or to surrender an ID card when required (under section 11). The notice will set out the reasons for deciding to impose the penalty and the amount of the penalty as well as explaining the steps that the person may take to object to it. In addition, prior to the issue of a penalty notice, a warning letter will normally be issued to an individual to alert them that they appear to be liable to a civil penalty, explaining why this is the case and how they can meet the particular requirement in question and thus avoid the need for any penalty to be imposed.