ID card repeal bill completion planned for December

A government document titled Political reform, draft structural reform plan says that the Identity and Documents Bill, which also includes scrapping the National Identity Register and the halting of fingerprints on passports, should complete its passage through Parliament by December 2010. "The coalition wants less big state intrusion and interference with our private lives. We will move to restore the rights of individuals in the face of encroaching state power, in keeping with our traditions of freedom and fairness," says the document, published on 27 July 2010. "We will reverse state intrusion into the lives of law abiding citizens by scrapping ID cards and unnecessarily intrusive databases, and restoring rights to non-violent protest." The Freedom Bill, which includes plans to "adopt the protections of the Scottish model for the DNA database" and further regulation of CCTV, is scheduled to be passed by November 2011. Home Secretary Theresa May announced at the end of May that the £4.5bn national identity card scheme would be scrapped. The government first outlined plans to further regulate CCTV in its coalition agreement, published days after coming into power. It has not yet detailed what it plan to do about CCTV. In response to a parliamentary written question from Lord Brett on whether this will include reducing camera numbers, Home Office minister Baroness Neville-Jones said on 28 July: "We support the use of CCTV. Rather than seeking to reduce the number of CCTV cameras, our aim is to ensure that where CCTV is used, there is a clear framework for its use so that it commands public confidence. We will bring forward proposals shortly."