UK security industry should complete OneLogin adoption to save money

Gov.uk OneLogin should be in place for the UK’s the Security Industry Authority (SIA) by the fourth quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and the Home Office and Government Digital Service (GDS) should coordinate with each other and the SIA to make sure it does. This is one of the key findings of a public body review of the SIA by independent reviewer Cristina Bizzi.

The report makes a series of recommendations for improving the efficiency and lowering the cost of digital service delivery. The group says the UK is poised to save 5 percent with efficiencies from its recommendations, and sets a new target of 7.53 percent in savings over three years. The SIA’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to the following March 31, hence the report’s release this week.

The SIA notes that its tasks include performing identity verification from the UK and overseas, part of which is Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks. OneLogin does not meet the required confidence level for DBS checks with its standard offering, however. GDS says it can address that gap, but would require more funding.

The government can reduce manual data entry and duplicate data processes as well as telephone interactions by integrating Gov.uk OneLogin and its new digital ID portals into the STeP and customer support systems.

The OneLogin single sign-on (SSO) service for access to government systems has been ramping up since 2021, but also facing questions about accessibility. A privacy and inclusion advisory group for OneLogin was recently shuttered, just as Gov.uk’s remit expands to include a digital wallet and app.

An even greater savings can be achieved through reducing the ID verifications outsourced to third-parties, which may help explain part of the motivation behind Gov.uk’s new tasks. The SIA’s largest third-party identity verification contract is for £900,000 (approximately US$1.2 million) a year. How much would be saved from this reduction is beyond SIA’s capacity to estimate, but the report notes that “The cost of the new Digital ID service must of course be offset against these savings.”

Responses from the Home Office and SIA welcome the work behind it and say the bodies will work on implementing its recommendations.

Article Topics

cybersecurity  |  digital identity  |  financial services  |  Gov.UK  |  UK