Speeches by Jones.

“Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ”

“Of course. What is digital ID, and why are we pursuing it as a policy? It is essentially the ability to log in to the gov.uk app and prove who you are, in order to access public services. That is different from a standard login, where you can log in to an app with a username and password, because the system is able to …”

“No.”

“Step by step over time.”

“I often go to the passport system because the digital transformation of the passport system, and therefore the much better user experience that we all have, is a great example of its being done well. Those of us who served in the last Parliament know that the reason that happened is because the old system completely bl…”

“We will co-ordinate it in the centre of Government for sure, but we will need to think what is the best use case to get on to the app. What is the state of your current IT system and data? How complicated or not is this? We will have to put that into a business case and get Treasury approval for it, because you will ne…”

“We can probably integrate that very easily. Many local authorities are already using the Government One payment system, so you might be able to integrate payments depending on where they are at. Again, it will take time. In terms of who decides, my expectation is that it will be Government and Parliament, by which I me…”

“On the first part of your question, it would be great to involve local government. We can probably already involve local government where it is useful information sharing like your postcode and bin collection day. Apparently, that is one of the most looked-for web pages on council websites.”

“The digital ID system will be a stand-alone system that we will build. The challenge that you have rightly alluded to is that when you are connecting up services to access through the app, because it is going to be a federated data system your ID on the app needs to be able to find you in the database that you are inte…”

“I think that is right. As I say, we will provide materials for MPs to do things in their constituencies if that is useful. We will also do traditional media and digital marketing campaigns and those types of things while we go through the process. This goes to a slightly different part of my brief, but at the moment th…”

“The mistake we made is that it was announced and then there was a period of silence. We should not have left the period of silence. I think it was a reflection of a number of things. There was a major Government reshuffle and we announced it just a week before the party conference season. There are various reasons, but…”

“I think that is right. If our Government or any future Government want to change that position, they ought to come back to Parliament to get approval, quite frankly, because it is an important thing for the public. It is also our responsibility, as we launch the consultation and talk to people around the country, to ex…”

“The consultation will ask questions on that, and I am also looking forward to working with Parliament on the legislation. My sense at this stage is that I do not particularly want to present a Bill to Parliament that tries to envisage all possible functions in the future and pre-legislate for them. I am interested in t…”

“As in which functions are coming on to the app?”

“I declare my interest, yes.”

“I do, in so far as, in the course of the Parliament, all that we are trying to do is get the consultation and legislation in place to enable us to build the digital ID system and integrate it into the app, allowing for a digital verification of right to work checks—that is it for this Parliament. We will do those thing…”

“I think the right hon. Member is referring to 2023, which is of course before this Government were in office. I confirm that we are in the middle of negotiations with the committee on a number of issues, partly in relation to its headcount. We have increased the budget available to the committee for staffing. We are co…”

“Documents that are published as part of the Humble Address will of course comply with the terms of the Humble Address. As I have said to hon. Members before, if there are particular suggestions or concerns about specific Palantir contracts, those representations—with our assistance, if helpful—should be made to the Dep…”

“We are working with relevant advisers and Departments to scope the Bill, and the measures that need to be brought forward for that to be effective. The legislation raises a number of constitutional questions, which have taken some time for the Government to consider. The last time peerages were removed, I think, was in…”

“My experience of the civil servants in the propriety and ethics team is unquestionably that they work extremely hard, comply with the civil service code and seek to ensure that the Government uphold all the ethics and integrity rules that we are subject to. I have not seen one instance or any suggestion of poor perform…”