Digital ID

Gareth Snell Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh Simons]

We announced the intention to roll out digital ID cards, and I have clarified today that those will be free for anyone who wants one. We will consult on how to make that maximally useful for every British person who wants a Government who work better for them. That is what we will do.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

I agree with the Minister that where we can digitise processes, it can release huge savings to the public purse —he has cited India’s £10 billion a year. The Government are now moving from a mandatory process to a voluntary process on the right to work, and everything was voluntary beforehand. Does the Department have any modelling that it can share—perhaps he can announce it today—on what the voluntary uptake will need to be in order to release the savings he cited against the projected cost of the service that he is putting together? He also says that although there will not be a mandatory element on digital ID for right-to-work checks, there will be a new digital right-to-work check. Can he say more about what that will be? Will that system be developed alongside the digital ID system or after it, once he is aware of the size of the market?

[Josh Simons]

I thank my hon. Friend for what I think were three questions, all of which I will try to answer. Our job in building this voluntary scheme, where people can get an ID if they want one, is to make it useful and effective. It is on us to figure out how to do that, and that is what we will be doing. The consultation will have more information about the modelling that he is after, and that will be published in the coming weeks. Once we have made the design choices about how to make the system maximally useful for people, further costs will then be published for the House. On the third question, the digital right-to-work checking system will be developed alongside the digital ID programme.