Recommendation 15

The government’s initial announcement of digital ID was rushed, poorly thought through, and failed to articulate convincingly any of the potential benefits. This undermined existing public support for the introduction of digital ID. The government has since taken positive steps to improve its policy including abandoning the commitment to make digital ID mandatory, improving engagement with the digital verification services sector, and publishing a detailed consultation with a People’s Panel. However, the fact that these steps were all taken after the initial announcement of mandatory digital ID shows how back-to-front the development of this policy has been. The government has already learnt some lessons from the handling of this programme so far, including the need for greater sensitivity to the views of the public. However, there is still a long way to go to undo the damage of the initial announcement, and the government is yet to demonstrate that it has the capacity to implement a complicated programme of this nature. To ensure the credibility of the programme it is essential that it is subject to much more robust cross-government consultation across the UK, as well as more detailed policy development and public engagement. (Conclusion, Paragraph 63) 30