Summary

• Officials told the Public Accounts Committee that One Login currently provides access to 264 services out of approximately 500, with broader coverage targeted within 18 to 24 months.
• HMRC's first phase is complete for new users, while migration of approximately 32 million existing Government Gateway users is expected to begin in 2027.
• The programme's senior responsible owner reported £752m in realised net benefits to August 2026 and described continuing work on a government digital wallet.

GOV.UK One Login is providing access to 264 government services, with officials targeting coverage of approximately 500 within the next 18 to 24 months, according to evidence given to MPs following the cancellation of the proposed national digital identity scheme.

Natalie Jones, the programme’s senior responsible owner, outlined its progress during a Public Accounts Committee hearing on 19 October. She also confirmed that migration of millions of existing HMRC users remains outstanding, while development of a separate government digital wallet continues.

The evidence provides a more detailed account of the government’s remaining digital identity work after ministers abandoned plans for a government-issued national digital ID in July. Shared authentication, verification services and reusable digital credentials remain part of Whitehall’s technology programme.

MPs examined how those activities are coordinated across departments, who is accountable for delivery and whether existing technology can provide convenient access to public services without creating unnecessary administrative or privacy risks.

One Login has reached 264 services

One Login is intended to replace multiple department-specific sign-in systems with a common account through which people can access government services.

The platform combines authentication with identity verification where individual services require evidence that a user is the person they claim to be.

Jones told the Committee that One Login currently supports 264 services, compared with an estimated total of 500 central government services requiring access arrangements.

She said the programme’s priority is to extend coverage across the remaining services within 18 to 24 months. The total number is an estimate because government services are introduced, modified and withdrawn over time.

Migration involves more than replacing the screen on which users enter their credentials. Existing applications may have different security requirements, identity records and methods of connecting accounts to services.

Departments must establish how users will be recognised when they move to the common platform and how people can recover access if verification fails.

There are also differences between creating a secure account and proving someone’s identity. Some services need only to authenticate a returning user, while others require more extensive checks before permitting access to sensitive information or transactions.

Maintaining those distinctions is important as a common platform expands. A sign-in system can provide consistent authentication without requiring every participating department to hold identical information about the user.

HMRC migration remains substantial

One of the largest outstanding tasks involves HM Revenue and Customs, whose Government Gateway service has long supported access to tax and other financial information.

Jones told MPs that HMRC’s initial integration phase is complete for new users. Someone accessing the relevant services for the first time no longer needs to create a new Government Gateway account.

Existing users remain on an older route. According to Jones, approximately 32 million people still have Government Gateway accounts and are expected to enter a second migration phase beginning in 2027.

A separate group uses HMRC systems professionally, including people acting on behalf of businesses and clients. Their requirements can involve delegated permissions and the ability to access information associated with several organisations.

These arrangements complicate migration because account access must preserve the distinction between an individual’s identity and the actions they are authorised to perform for another person or business.

Moving large numbers of users also requires communication and support. People may have established login methods or recovery arrangements, while some will have difficulty completing new verification procedures.

HMRC and the One Login programme therefore need to manage service continuity alongside changes to authentication. The announced 2027 start concerns the next phase of migration rather than confirmation that all existing accounts will have been transferred during that year.

Officials set out the programme’s financial case

The Committee also examined the expenditure and benefits associated with One Login.

Jones said the programme had realised £752 million in net benefits between April 2022 and the end of August 2026, according to its benefits reporting.

She divided that figure into £396 million attributed to reduced identity-related fraud, £218 million associated with less duplication and cheaper digital access, and £138 million in time savings for users.

Those figures are the programme’s reported assessment of benefits rather than a directly observable cash saving of the same amount across government budgets.

Measuring fraud prevention involves estimating losses avoided, while time savings require assumptions about how long activities would otherwise have taken. These benefits can be meaningful without representing expenditure reductions that have already appeared in departmental accounts.

Jones also described the programme’s approved business case, which projects £2.83 billion in total net benefits by March 2028 against total programme costs of £702.94 million over the relevant period.

The forecast depends on the remaining delivery programme and the continued realisation of benefits. It should be distinguished from the results reported up to August 2026.

She said the programme had reviewed its fraud prevention model using actual information from DVLA, moving beyond earlier modelling assumptions.

The Committee’s examination of these figures places greater emphasis on the evidence behind projected savings as additional government services migrate to the common platform.

Digital credentials continue under a separate programme

Despite the cancellation of the national digital ID proposal, work on GOV.UK Wallet is continuing.

The wallet is intended to allow people to hold selected government-issued credentials digitally and present them when they need to demonstrate a particular entitlement or qualification.

Jones told the Committee that a digital driving licence is the next priority. Officials are also examining additional credentials, with more than 80 forms of government-issued evidence identified as potential future additions.

Examples include proof of benefits, driving test pass certificates and Disclosure and Barring Service certificates.

The wallet would provide a means of presenting and verifying credentials, including where an organisation outside government needs evidence of a qualification or entitlement.

A digital credential can contain information that is different from what a relying organisation needs to know. The design of the wallet and its verification process will influence whether users can demonstrate only the relevant information rather than disclose unnecessary personal details.

Jones also described the ability to revoke credentials that are no longer valid, a capability that could help organisations establish whether evidence presented to them remains current.

Implementation will require participation from organisations accepting the credentials. A digital driving licence, for example, will depend on suitable verification processes being available to businesses and other institutions expected to recognise it.

Privacy and departmental coordination remain under scrutiny

The Public Accounts Committee examined the fragmented responsibilities surrounding digital identity, with more than a dozen public organisations involved in different aspects of the system.

Changes in departmental responsibilities have added complexity to the programme’s oversight. Officials were asked to explain how the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and other bodies will coordinate the remaining work.

Privacy was another area of examination. Jones said One Login’s privacy notice is already public and that the programme intends to publish its data protection impact assessment before the end of 2026.

She told MPs that the latest assessment had been submitted to the Information Commissioner’s Office following changes to the system’s functionality.

Government identity systems require clear arrangements governing what data is collected, how it is used and which organisations may access it. Reusing verification information can make services more convenient, but the architecture must also guard against unnecessary sharing or the concentration of sensitive records.

Officials discussed mechanisms for sharing relevant information without creating large central repositories containing everything held about an individual.

The continuing development of One Login and the wallet therefore involves separate but connected responsibilities: maintaining reliable sign-in services, establishing trusted identity evidence and allowing credentials to be used appropriately.

The figures provided to Parliament establish a substantial operating programme despite the cancellation of the national ID proposal. Its next measurable milestones are the migration of existing HMRC users, broader adoption across government services, publication of updated privacy documentation and the introduction of further digital credentials.