Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of requiring company directors to obtain digital identification through Companies House from November 2025 on administration for businesses.

Identity verification is designed to be quick and straightforward. Individuals can verify their identity digitally through GOV.UK One Login, for free, via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), such as an accountant or solicitor, or in-person at the Post Office. In most cases, the digital route takes a few minutes.

Our 2024 Impact Assessment concluded that the familiarisation and time-based costs to businesses of identity verification are minimal. The cost to an average officer for identity verification is £10.50, and up to £25.20 for a harder-to-verify individual (2019 prices) and £2.10 to confirm each appointment.