Further doubt has been cast on the ID card scheme, with reports that the awarding of a major contract has been delayed by the Home Office.

The Financial Times reports that the awarding of the contract for card design and production, for which BM, Thales and Fujitsu had bid, has been postponed until Autumn 2010.

The revelation comes in the wake of a warning to potential contractors from shadow home secretary Chris Grayling that the Conservatives would scrap the entire scheme if elected.

Grayling also accused the government of including “poison” penalty clauses in contracts that would make it difficult for a future Conservative administration to abandon the scheme.

“I am increasingly concerned that the government is putting in place contractual arrangements that are designed to tie the hands of a future government, and I want to make the contractors absolutely aware that we do not intend to complete this work,” Grayling said earlier this week.

A spokesman for the Home Office said the department was still “fully committed” to implementing ID cards, pointing out that contracts to deliver the pilot scheme in Manchester this year had already been signed.