The UK government has scrapped plans for a new national digital ID product, but officials say the underlying identity infrastructure—including GOV.UK One Login, a digital wallet and a digital identity trust framework—will continue.

At a Public Accounts Committee hearing, DCMS officials distinguished the cancelled proposal from systems already in development. The Register reported that more than 80 document types are earmarked for the government wallet, including proof-of-benefits documents, driving-test certificates and DBS certificates. Officials also said a private-sector test environment is open for providers to integrate with wallet technology, while further testing is planned for December and digital driving licences are targeted for a 2027 national rollout. The Register’s hearing report

For security and identity-system buyers, the significant distinction is between a single compulsory national product and an expanding set of authentication and credential services. Officials described consent as the model for digital-ID use in digital services, while also acknowledging that the strategy was not complete. The report says One Login stores identity information separately, does not see activity inside government services and does not issue a single identifier to users; those are government officials’ claims, rather than an independent technical assessment.

Adoption will also depend on whether people can complete verification without biometrics. In its latest inclusion reporting on certified UK digital verification services, the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes found that 39 of 44 surveyed organisations use biometrics, but only about half of those offer an alternative route. Just three organisations reported offering vouching, and none had a vouching route within the scope of certification, according to Biometric Update’s report on the findings.

That evidence does not establish how GOV.UK One Login itself will handle every exclusion case. It does show that interoperability with private providers and a larger credential catalogue will not by themselves resolve accessibility, demographic-testing and fallback-method gaps documented in the wider verification market.