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Youth card torn up for not being smart enough Daily Mail - March 1, 2007 A smart card for teenagers which would have been a forerunner of the national ID card has been abandoned. Children's Minister, Bev Hughes, said the Youth Opportunity Card project was going to cost twice as much as estimated. She also admitted there was no 'off-the-shelf' technology to operate the scheme. Critics of ID cards will claim this proves the whole idea is a technological minefield. Ten local authorities have been involved in piloting the youth cards scheme which encouraged teenagers to take up positive pastimes such as sports and cultural pursuits which they may not otherwise be able to afford. Ministers pledged to download £25 a month on to the cards of disadvantaged youngsters, and parent or guardians could also top up cash levels. Miss Hughes said yesterday: "We do not believe that going ahead with the card would provide value for money. We have carried out detailed and extensive work to assess whether the YOC is deliverable and the associated costs, benefits and risk. Our conclusions are that the costs would far outweigh the money being provided. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "This is just once reason why the Government should ditch their costly ID cards scheme which would do nothing to improve our security and will probably make it worse." If you have suggestions for additional subjects, or material to include in the pages linked to the subjects listed, please contact the webmaster.
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