A new universal login is making public services easier to access online for more than 1.5 million people, it has been revealed today (Saturday 24 June).
The system, which builds on the lessons of the pandemic, allows users to have just one account, one username, one password and one identity check to use Government services such as signing your mortgage deed or requesting a DBS check, without having to repeatedly provide their information.
There are currently around 191 different ways for people to set up accounts and 44 different sign-in methods, wasting people’s time and costing the taxpayer money as departments have to pay to maintain duplicate login and identity services. Slimming this down into a single platform for logging in and accessing GOV.UK services will save over £700 million as well as people’s time and effort.
Over 100 public services will be using GOV.UK One Login by 2025, covering the vast bulk of all central government services.
Users can choose to use the GOV.UK One Login app, which has been developed and is available for download, to prove their identity when accessing services. The app allows a user to quickly, easily and securely verify their identity, using their smartphone.
GOV.UK One Login has already successfully been used by over 1.5 million users to prove who they are, while the app has now been downloaded two million times.
Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said:
For millions of people, GOV.UK and online public services are their main daily interaction with the government.
The public rightly expect government services to be fast, simple and easy to use.
That’s why I am pleased that the GOV.UK One Login programme will deliver on that promise, cutting down duplication and providing a single way for people to access public services.
This saves taxpayer time and money, while helping us reduce fraud and provide more efficient and effective services.
The service is being rolled out to all departments, with eight services currently operational:
-Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): Request a basic DBS check
-Department for Business and Trade: Licensing for International Trade and Enterprise (LITE)
-Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA): Apply for your vehicle operator licence
-Social Work England: Register to be a social worker
-HM Land Registry: Sign your mortgage deed
-Ofqual: Apply to be an advisor
-Modern Slavery Unit: Modern slavery statement registry
-HMRC Government Gateway, which has adopted the identity checking app early and is offering it to customers setting up Government Gateway credentials, as an alternative way to prove their identity to HMRC’s existing identity verification service.
To add further convenience for users, the GOV.UK One Login will allow users to prove their identity, beyond just using a passport or a driving licence, such as by using a biometric residence permit.
While the new system will make it quicker and easier for those wishing to access government services, traditional face-to-face services will continue, for those who wish to use them. There will also be help for those with low digital skills, through assisted digital and face to face options, giving more people the confidence to use GOV.UK One Login and access Services.
GOV.UK One Login is being developed with data security at its heart, with protections in place to ensure user data is secure. It will help to reduce fraud against public services, operating a more secure system, and help to protect users from identity-enabled crime.
Further information on GOV.UK One Login can be found in this blogpost from Natalie Jones. Photo by Paul the Archivist, Wikimedia commons.