The UK’s planned national digital ID programme has moved from political talking point to line item, with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) attaching an estimated £1.8 billion price tag over three years in its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The forecast, published alongside the 2025 Budget, suggests around £1.1 billion in capital spending and roughly £700 million in resource spending between 2026–27 and 2028–29.
According to coverage of the Budget, the digital ID card scheme is grouped with a set of "unfunded" measures, meaning the OBR has scored the spending without matching tax rises or offsetting cuts elsewhere. That designation raises questions about how firmly the project sits in the UK’s medium-term fiscal plans and whether the current rollout timetable will hold.
Policy papers position the national digital identity system as a central pillar in efforts to modernise public services and clamp down on fraud, giving residents a reusable government-backed credential for proving identity across channels and services. However, the details that matter for implementers remain thin, including how any new credential will coexist with the existing GOV.UK One Login platform and private-sector identity verification services.
For CISOs and identity teams, the OBR’s numbers are a signal that Westminster intends to move beyond piecemeal pilots toward a large, centralised identity infrastructure. That raises familiar design questions around architecture (central registry versus more federated models), potential linkage to biometric data, and how a national credential might interact with wallets, passkeys and other authenticators already in use on mobile devices.
The cost estimate also lands against a politically charged backdrop. Ministers are facing sustained opposition to a mandatory digital ID plan for workers, including a petition that has passed 1.6 million signatures, while grappling with security concerns around GOV.UK One Login after it lost certification earlier in the year. At the same time, officials have confirmed they are exploring physical alternatives for people who cannot or will not rely on smartphone-based credentials.
Sources: OBR, Computer Weekly, Freevacy, UK Government
—
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
