GDS signs up 19 councils to pilot Gov.UK Verify

Identity assurance in applications for travel passes and parking permits the subject of first Gov.UK Verify pilots

Nineteen local authorities have been signed up by the Government Digital Service to run pilot projects testing the Gov.UK Verify identify assurance platform.

The first wave of pilots will be used in just two local authority services: issuing concessionary travel passes and resident parking permits.

It follows the long-delayed launch of the service this summer.

"The pilots aim to tackle the issues that users face when making a first time application for a residents' parking permit or an older person's concessionary bus pass. Our focus is on introducing an online option to access the service (where one doesn't currently exist) or improving the existing offering through business process re-engineering and service redesign," claimed the GDS in a blog post.

The project will kick off with 'discovery' workshops later this month before the services are mapped out.

"In advance of the workshops, we plan to visit participating councils and analyse their processes to create a high-level service pattern and key personas. We will also gather in-depth data on service costs, user volumes and available channels for accessing the services.

"This will help us quantify and track benefits to councils, inform pilot success criteria, as well as feed into the next iterations of the service specific business cases," the GDS added.

Two more discovery workshops are planned for the end of October and November covering, among other things, housing benefit and council tax discounts.

"The pilots are a true collaboration across a large number of organisations, working in the open," said Jess McEvoy, GDS interim programme director for Verify.

She continued: "I'm really delighted with the response we've received from local authorities so far and all the input we've had from the sector in shaping our approach. We can't wait to get started."

The participating local authorities include the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden and Hillingdon, Brighton and Hove City Council, Canterbury City Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, Northumberland County Council and the city councils of Newcastle, Sunderland and Southampton.

In addition to being exceptionally late, Gov.UK Verify has also been criticised for a number of flaws in an academic study.