The UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has launched a formal inquiry into the government’s planned digital ID scheme, opening a new chapter of scrutiny over how British citizens may soon carry and present identity credentials from a mobile device.
The inquiry follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s September 2025 announcement of a voluntary digital ID programme with a target launch before the end of the current Parliament in 2029. The government confirmed in January 2026 that the credential would not be mandatory but would serve as one of several ways for individuals to verify their identity against government records, including right-to-work checks, access to public services, and potentially private-sector verification in housing, employment, and financial services.
The committee’s interest is shaped by the failure of GOV.UK Verify, the government’s earlier digital identity programme. A 2019 PAC report found Verify had missed all of its original performance targets. Persistent problems, including difficulty signing up and an inability to access multiple services through a single credential, led to low adoption and the programme’s eventual wind-down. The committee now plans to take evidence from senior government officials, user groups, and campaigners on what lessons from that experience should inform the new scheme’s design.
The inquiry runs alongside a separate Home Affairs Committee investigation launched in June 2025 into harnessing the potential of new digital ID formats. Together, the two parliamentary probes reflect sustained legislative attention to whether a mobile-first credential can succeed where earlier web-based approaches did not. A National Audit Office report assessing the scheme’s opportunities and risks is also in preparation.
The UK does not currently operate a national ID card or single citizen identifier. The proposed programme would introduce a voluntary digital credential usable across government services, with the mobile delivery channel a central design question. Countries including EU member states are already building smartphone-based identity wallets with selective disclosure features, raising the bar for what British citizens and policymakers may expect from a new system.
The committee has invited written evidence submissions and listed contact details on its inquiry page for potential contributors. The PAC has asked that evidence address the specific question of how the government intends to ensure the new digital ID avoids the adoption failures that undermined Verify.
Sources: UK Parliament
–
By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
