The UK government has confirmed it will design, build, and operate its national digital identity system using internal government resources, rather than outsourcing the core platform to a private-sector developer. Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones made the announcement while demonstrating a prototype of what he described as “Government by app” at a Downing Street press conference.
The Government Digital Service will lead and support the broader technical effort. Jones said the system is built around a federated data model: personal information accessed through the app will remain with the government department responsible for it. Benefits entitlement data stays with the Department for Work and Pensions, driving records with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and tax information with HMRC. A new centralized database will not be created.
The app is intended to give citizens a single verified identity for accessing multiple government services without re-proving who they are to each department. An eight-week public consultation is currently underway to gather views on the system’s design. Among the questions still open is the minimum eligible age: the government’s current position is 16, but the consultation asks whether the digital ID should be available to younger people as well. New services added to the app are expected to require parliamentary approval.
Jones pointed to the volume of manual government transactions as the primary driver for the initiative. The DVLA currently processes approximately 45,000 letters daily and HMRC handles around 100,000 phone calls each day. Jones said automating these processes through the app could save “tens of billions of pounds” in operational costs. The Cabinet Office projects 4.3 billion pounds (approximately $5.8 billion) in net economic benefits for the UK over the next decade.
Health services are not in scope: NHS data and health records will remain within the NHS app. Services including childcare support, pension statements, and HMRC data may be incorporated in future phases but are not expected this year.
The cost of the project has not been formally fixed. A preliminary estimate from November put the figure at 1.8 billion pounds (approximately $2.4 billion) over three years. The Cabinet Office’s consultation document acknowledges that at this stage it is “not possible to definitively estimate the cost to government from developing and running the digital ID system.”
Sources: BBC
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
