- Improving digital access to public services remains a
challenge for government, despite the cancellation of
government's digital ID plans
- Fragmented services and systems make it difficult to
integrate access for customers and ensure privacy and security
- International comparisons show no single model for success,
but other countries are moving at pace towards phone-based
digital wallets and identity systems across multiple sectors
In July 2026, the government announced that it would not proceed
with its proposals for digital identity.
A range of digital identity-related services, credentials,
standards and governance arrangements already exists. Yet
important questions remain about how people can securely and
conveniently prove who they are and demonstrate their entitlement
to services.
In its latest Lessons Learned' report, the NAO draws on previous
work on digital transformation, data and identity, together with
evidence from international audit bodies, to set out what
currently exists and to help inform any future consideration of
digital identity.
The report emphasises that digital identity is not a single
product or technology. It is an ecosystem of services,
credentials, standards, providers and governance arrangements
spanning both government and the private sector.
The UK has, in general, a solid foundation through legislation
and standards as well as existing services but inconsistency
remains across departments and services, largely due to
long-standing legacy data and systems issues.
Different public services use different identifiers, such as
National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference and NHS
number. Establishing a trusted digital identity to access
multiple services is only part of the challenge. Government also
needs to link that identity to the correct record within each
service. Connecting records relating to the same person across
different systems and services is a further challenge, made more
difficult by differences in systems, standards and data quality.
Studies from other countries also find that, outside of countries
with a history of mandatory identity systems, successful digital
identity relies on people finding it useful and wanting to use
it. Take-up is linked to whether systems provide clear, practical
benefits in everyday use.
As other countries move towards phone-based digital wallets,
reusable credentials and cross-sector identity systems, decisions
about interoperability and standards are likely to become
increasingly important for the UK's long term system design.
The report concludes with lessons for government as it considers
its revised approach to digital identity:
- It will be important to define any future objectives,
delivery choices, and how to effectively address long-standing
constraints in legacy systems and fragmented data.
- In any future initiative, government will need to define
priority scenarios and set out how to fund, deliver and integrate
them across services.
- Government will need to decide how far to build new public
sector capabilities, such as a digital wallet and supporting
infrastructure, and how far to rely on private sector provision
operating within the trust framework.
, head of the NAO,
said:
"Despite government's recent announcement that it will not be
going ahead with its digital identity plans, questions about how
people can conveniently and securely prove who they are or
something about themselves in a digital world remain relevant.
Experience from other countries suggests digital identity works
best when people find it useful and want to use it in their
everyday lives, together with effective security and privacy
protections."
Notes to editors
Our work on the lessons for government of work on digital
identity in the UK and elsewhere was largely completed before the
government cancelled its programme to develop a single
government-issued digital identity. We have repurposed this
report to inform wider work on digital access to public services.
