Five departments and eight services are now at public beta for the government’s online identity assurance service
Five government departments are now running the GOV.UK Verify identity assurance service on a public beta basis, taking in 13 services with more expected before April of next year, according to the latest update from the Government Digital Service (GDS).
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Business Innovation and Skills have all gone to public beta. Two more expected to join by April of next year: the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education.
Eight services using Verify are now accessible to the public: tax refund claims; applications for Universal Credit; viewing and sharing driving licence information; claiming for redundancy and monies owed; self-assessment tax returns; claiming rural payments; helping friends or family with their tax; and checking and updating company car tax. The total is expected to reach 25 by April.
A blogpost by Janet Hughes, the programme’s head of policy and engagement, says that 80% of the adult population are now able to use Verify and the figure should hit 90% by April. Also, the success rate for using the service has risen from 40% in March to 71% this month and is expected to reach 90% next year.
She attributes the increase to the companies certified to authenticate identities developing new methods to do so.
Staged process
“We’ve developed a staged process for services that want to use GOV.UK Verify, and we’re constantly developing that so that it’s as clear as possible to services what they will need to do, and any new needs arising from new services adopting GOV.UK Verify are understood early on so we can meet them in time,” Hughes says in the blog.
Earlier this week the GDS revealed that the requirements for individuals to provide proof of identity have been eased and new options in the process are being made available.
