Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned any research into or evaluation of the potential risks and benefits of digital identity systems, including with regard to impacts on privacy, inclusion, and interoperability.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, enables the use of secure digital verification services for those who want to use them. In May 2024, OfDIA commissioned research on the UK digital identity market, including a consumer survey on the benefits and barriers to digital identity use. The findings are published on GOV.UK alongside a report on the inclusivity of the certified digital identity market. OfDIA will continue to publish these reports annually.
For the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, OfDIA conducted a De Minimis assessment of the economic costs and benefits of the digital verification services provisions. This is available on GOV.UK and a post-implementation review will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any departmental or cross-governmental working groups have been established to explore digital identity policy; and if so, what are their remit and proposed timetable.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is responsible for maintaining the standards, governance and legislation that helps people to identify trusted and secure digital identity services.
OfDIA regularly engages with cross-government colleagues regarding digital identity policy, including work to remove regulatory barriers to adoption in different use cases where these exist. OfDIA also facilitates regular technical working groups for cross-government collaboration, which provide input into the development of standards, guidance and best practice that support the Government’s digital identity work.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guiding principles or policy frameworks are informing their internal discussions on the future of digital identity policy.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is committed to enabling the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them.
In response to the findings of the 2019 call for evidence on digital identity, the Government set out six principles to inform the development of digital identity policy in the UK. These are privacy, transparency, inclusivity, interoperability, proportionality, and good governance. The Government’s UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, which sets out rules for digital verification services that wish to be certified as trustworthy and will be underpinned by provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, is based around these principles.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of international trends and standards in digital identity policy; and what discussions they have had with international partners regarding potential adoption of a digital identity policy.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to assess international trends and standards in digital identity policy and implementation. This includes benchmarking the UK’s digital identity and attributes trust framework against other comparable international frameworks and guidelines. The Government also regularly engages with a range of international partners on a bilateral and multilateral basis.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the merits of developing a digital identity framework; and (2) its feasibility and impact.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In response to the 2019 call for evidence on digital identity, the Government committed to enabling the use of secure digital identities in the UK by creating a framework of standards, legislation and governance. In 2021, a consultation on digital identity gathered further views on the development of a legal and regulatory framework.
The Government’s UK digital identity and attributes trust framework sets out rules for digital verification services. It has been developed iteratively through extensive engagement with the ICO, civil society and industry stakeholders to help ensure that it meets the needs of users. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will underpin this framework with statutory duties on the Secretary of State, including a duty to consult and to conduct annual reviews. Over 50 services are already certified against the trust framework and delivering digital verification services across the UK economy.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult stakeholders, including civil society and industry representatives, on the potential introduction of a digital ID system.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is committed to enabling the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them.
This work is informed by responses to a 2019 call for evidence on digital identity that requested views on how the Government can support the development and secure use of digital identities and was followed by an extensive consultation process.
OfDIA continues to regularly engage with stakeholders, including digital verification providers, industry bodies, civil society, academics and organisations interested in adopting digital identities.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) the number of individuals on the NHS elective waiting list, and (2) the average waiting times, of each strike day by resident doctors.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that industrial action has hugely damaging impacts on hospital care, including elective waiting times. National Health Service industrial action cost taxpayers £1.7 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. Nearly 1.5 million appointments were rescheduled due to strikes between December 2022 and July 2024.
Planning and mitigation for any prospective strikes are underway, supported by internal assessments of the possible impact based on previous industrial action.
NHS England has published data on the impact from previous industrial action on completed pathways for consultant-led elective services on the days of, and immediately surrounding, the strikes, with further information available on the NHS England website.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on the unemployment rate; and whether they will deposit any modelling carried out as part of that assessment in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A detailed assessment of this policy has been published by HMRC in their Tax Information and Impact Note. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published their March 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
With all policies considered, the EFO forecasts the unemployment rate to remain low throughout the forecast period and fall to 4.1% in 2029.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) high-net-worth individuals, and (2) ultra-high-net-worth individuals, have ceased to be resident in the UK for tax purposes since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Taxpayers are not always required to inform HM Revenue and Customs when they leave the UK. Some taxpayers outside of Self Assessment might file a P85 form after leaving the UK, but only where they are seeking to claim a repayment of income tax.
Taxpayers in Self Assessment can indicate that they have become non-resident after leaving the UK, but tax returns for the 2024 to 2025 and the 2025 to 2026 tax years are not due to be received by HMRC until 31 January of 2026 and 2027, respectively. Additionally, tax residency is based on the tax year, meaning in the future we will be able to identify individuals who became non-resident in the 2024 to 2025 tax year but not specifically from July 2024.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to introduce a wealth tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making sure the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at the Budget in October 2024 to help fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. These and other decisions announced at the Budget in October 2024 will help repair the public finances and fund public services such as the NHS and education.