By Steve Bargeton, political editor

MINISTERS MOVED yesterday to reassure Scots that controversial identity cards will not be needed to access services such as health and education north of the border.

However, Scots accessing services reserved to Westminster—like pensions and other benefits—would face the same requirements as other UK residents.

In a statement to Parliament, Finance Minister Tom McCabe also sought to allay fears about the use of the planned national identity register which would not hold criminal or medical records.

In February, Labour’s identity card proposals were given a bloody nose when the Scottish Parliament backed a motion describing them as an “unacceptable threat to civil liberties.”

Since then, the Scottish Executive has been fighting a rearguard action defending their introduction on a UK basis, while at the same time reassuring the Scottish public about their use.

“In terms of our position on the use of identity cards in Scotland, we have been very clear all along we do not wish to link them to the provision of devolved services,” said Mr McCabe.

The minister told MSPs that only by a new Act of the Scottish Parliament could that stance be altered.

Ministers are also concerned that Scots will confuse the introduction of so-called smartcards in Scotland to access public services with ID cards.

Smartcards are being introduced to access a range of services from school meals to concessionary travel.

“We will use technology to introduce voluntary smartcards which will enable citizens to enjoy easier, better access to the public services they want to use,” continued Mr McCabe.

“Sometimes our work in this area is wrongly confused with issues around identity cards.”

During questions to the minister, Tory justice spokeswoman Annabel Goldie asked if Scots would pay less for smartcards because they would use them for fewer services as a result of devolved services being excluded.

Mr McCabe replied, “People in Scotland are citizens of the United Kingdom. They may require a form of identity card, for instance in connection with a passport.

“An identity card and a passport may indeed be the very same document in future and therefore as citizens of the United Kingdom they should share the same burden as others in other parts of the United Kingdom.”