Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs Digital press release of 13 February 2017, Green light for Government Gateway Transformation, how much his Department plans to spend on (a) establishing and (b) maintaining the new verification service.

The ‘new verification service’ to which this question refers is being developed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to replace the Government Gateway as a verification service for business representatives. It will complement GOV.UK Verify, the single identification service for individuals.

HMRC agreed with the Cabinet Office and Department for Work and Pensions to take on responsibility for decommissioning the existing Government Gateway, in line with current contractual arrangements, by March 2018.

HMRC has responded to a previous Parliamentary Question (PQ64720) on the issue of expenditure. The cost of building a replacement verification service for business representatives will be met by HMRC.