Pledge
“Digital ID will be mandatory for Right to Work checks by the end of the Parliament”
Our verdict
The government has announced its intention to make digital IDs compulsory for ‘Right to Work’ checks, but the scheme has not yet begun. A consultation on the policy is due to take place later this year.
In September 2025 the government announced plans to introduce a new digital ID scheme.
It said the aim was to “help combat illegal working”, and that the digital ID “will be mandatory for Right to Work checks by the end of the Parliament”.
‘Right to Work’ checks are checks that employers must carry out to ensure their staff are allowed to work in the UK, and aren’t disqualified from working due to their immigration status. These checks must take place before someone is employed.
British and Irish citizens can prove their right to work with their passports, birth or adoption certificates, or a certificate of naturalisation as a British citizen. Others can prove their right to work with immigration documents.
A government source confirmed to Full Fact that the digital ID policy would require anyone wanting to work in the UK—including UK and non-UK citizens—to have a digital ID, which would be used by employers to check they have the right to work in the UK.
But they also confirmed that people who were not working—for example, retirees—would not be required to have one.
The government has said it wants the scheme “in time” to make it “simpler to apply for services like driving licences, childcare and welfare” and streamline access to tax records, but confirmed to Full Fact that digital IDs would not be mandatory to access these services.
It has said the digital ID would be held on people’s phones, and include their name, date of birth, information on their nationality or residency status, and a photo.
The standards, governance and oversight of digital ID services is already in law, and a pre-legislative pilot has been running since April 2021.
The deadline for this pledge is the end of the current parliament, which will occur, at the latest, in July 2029.
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In September 2025 the government said it will “listen to a range of views on how the service will be delivered” and that a public consultation will be launched “later this year”.
The consultation will consider if additional information, such as addresses, should be included in the digital ID, and will engage with “groups who aren’t as experienced with the digital world, like the homeless and older people”.
The government also said work “is now underway to draw up the design and technical details of the scheme to ensure it is inclusive, fair and follows best practice for security and data privacy”.
As of mid-October 2025, the consultation had not yet begun and legislation for the scheme had yet to be introduced.
As we develop this Government Tracker we’re keen to hear your feedback. We’ll be keeping the Tracker up to date and adding more pledges in the coming months.
Progress displayed publicly—so every single person in this country can judge our performance on actions, not words.
Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister – 24 September 2024
