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R24 Accepted

Photograph requirement for identity documents

Bichard Inquiry · The Bichard Inquiry Report · Issued 22 June 2004 · Addressed to: Home Office

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

There should be an expectation that documents produced to confirm identity should, wherever possible, include a photograph.

Bichard Inquiry, The Bichard Inquiry Report · 22 Jun 2004 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

Government reports this recommendation as delivered. DBS introduced digital identity verification using UK passports, aligning with the expectation that identity documents should include a photograph..

Sources

Government response (2004-06-22): Accepted Source: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2004-06-22/debates/3637ce59-cd9a-462c-8b69-a29dc01e93a2/BichardInquiryReport Text: The Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament on 22 June 2004, the day the Bichard Inquiry Report was published, accepting all 31 recommendations in full. The government stated it was "in principle, accepting Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately." Implementation le Progress update (2025-02-01): Completed DBS introduced digital identity verification using UK passports, aligning with the expectation that identity documents should include a photograph. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by baseline-data-v1 on 17 Aug 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify from published sources alone. The evidence above reflects policy commitments rather than measured outcomes.

Response — verbatim from government

●Home Office

The Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament on 22 June 2004, the day the Bichard Inquiry Report was published, accepting all 31 recommendations in full. The government stated it was "in principle, accepting Sir Michael's main recommendations and will act on them immediately." Implementation led to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the creation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (now the Disclosure and Barring Service). By February 2007, 21 of the 31 recommendations had been fully or substantially completed. See Hansard, 22 June 2004.

Home Office · 22 Jun 2004 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

  • 1 Feb 2025 · Home Office DBS introduced digital identity verification using UK passports, aligning with the expectation that identity documents should include a photograph. Source →

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.