Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which organisations her Department has met with as part of the development of digital identity proposals.

The Government will start a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year and has naturally begun engaging with key stakeholders, including charities, trade unions, trade bodies and associations, businesses and local government leaders already. We will continue to engage through the consultation period and beyond to support product delivery.

We expect it to be designed, built and run by in-house Government teams, not outsourced to external suppliers. In the event any specialist external services or expertise are procured to support the delivery of new digital ID, this will be subject to all the usual competitive processes to ensure transparency, and value for the taxpayer.

The Government is also keen to learn from other countries that implemented successful digital ID programmes. The Rt Hon Pat McFadden travelled to Estonia in August to understand more about the Estonian digital ID system.