UK shifts digital ID policy, oversight lead from DSIT to Cabinet Office

The UK’s Cabinet Office is taking over responsibility for the government’s mandatory digital identity scheme from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), effective immediately.

A joint announcement specifies that the Cabinet Office will be responsible for policy, legislation and strategic oversight of the mandatory digital ID system announced by PM Keir Starmer a month ago. DSIT retains responsibility for the system’s technical design, development and delivery.

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall explains that the change is necessary because the digital ID “is a top priority for the Prime Minister that requires all government departments to be engaged.”

Darren Jones, chief secretary of the Prime Minister and chancellor of the Duchy of York, heads up the Cabinet Office.

Kendall says Jones will co-ordinate policy across the government and lead new legislation to support the digital ID scheme. He will also work with DSIT on its implementation.

“It is only by working collaboratively that the government will be able to deliver this ground-breaking initiative,” Kendall says.

The announcement refers several times to improving public services, but does not specify who is responsible for restoring public support for the digital ID, which appears to have collapsed the moment Starmer said the word “mandatory.”

Kendall took over the role with DSIT from Peter Kyle just weeks ago, back in the halcyon days when the age assurance requirements in the Online Safety Act were the most controversial part of its ambit. DSIT was created in 2023 when then-PM Rishi Sunak’s government dropped “Digital” from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to combine it with areas of responsibility taken from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The Office of Digital Identity and Attributes (OFDIA) was established in principle as an interim body in 2022 to oversee the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), but was still under development in early-2023, and graduated to permanent status a year ago.

Article Topics

Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT)  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  government services  |  UK  |  UK digital ID