GOV.UK App and Wallet – including digital driving licence – to launch this year


Major digital government offerings are to be released in the coming months, including an app to access a wide range of Whitehall services, and a single home for official documents

The GOV.UK App and a government digital wallet will launch this year – with a virtual driving licence one of the first documents to be made available.

Having been trailed for several years, the government-wide app – providing a single means of access to services delivered across departments – has now been slated to be released in June. Using the One Login verification system, the software will present users with a personalised homepage based on their most-frequently used services. The app will also provide notifications related to, for example, ongoing applications or services and updates that may be of interest (pictured above).

Also going live in 2025 will be a new GOV.UK Wallet, which will operate much like similar technologies from Apple and Google. The government-backed system will enable smartphone users to access, in a single place, a range of official documents, beginning this year with a Digital Veteran Card for former Armed Forces Personnel – as well as digital driving licences, which will go into a pilot phase by the end of 2025, according to ministers.

Other electronic documents to be made available are set to include the likes of National Insurance numbers, benefits details and, by 2027, a digital version of a citizens’ passport that can, initially, be used to prove identity.


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It is understood that, over the coming months and years, government will explore the potential role of other tech providers and, eventually, government documents could potentially be accessible via other Apple, Google or other digital wallet offerings.

Peter Kyle, secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, said: “Along with CDs, the Walkman and flip phones, the overflowing drawer rammed with letters from the Government and hours spent on hold to get a basic appointment will soon be consigned to history. GOV.UK Wallet will mean that every letter or identity document you receive from the government could be issued to you virtually. For people who choose to use GOV.UK Wallet, they will find it easier to prove they’re entitled to benefits or check their age when buying alcohol or DIY equipment, with more security and trust than ever before. Crucially, it also opens huge opportunities to make interacting with public services much easier by putting people in control of their own data.

“We will be overhauling how the public sector uses technology which is essential to delivering our Plan for Change, and in combination with this new tech for people to use themselves, we are going to slash the time people waste dealing with annoying processes so they can focus on what matters to them.”

Sam Trendall

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