Ministers will ask 100 people randomly selected from across Britain to feed into the government’s consultation on digital IDs as the government hopes to combat conspiracy theories about how it intends to use the technology.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, will announce the details of the consultation on Tuesday, amid scepticism from parts of the public and within the government about the idea.
As part of the consultation, ministers will announce a “citizens’ assembly” of people to feed in their views in an effort to hear the concerns of non-experts.
Jones is also facing resistance from some of his own colleagues, with the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, understood to have ruled out using the technology to help allocate special educational needs funding.
Jones said: “Public trust in the state has been declining for years, whoever has been in power – and people too often feel shut out of decisions.
“This consultation is going above and beyond to bring people in to all the big debates, and the knotty trade-offs too. We’re deliberately going out to seek the views of ordinary people from all walks of life and from right across the country – so it’s not just the loudest or most powerful voices who are being heard.”
Keir Starmer, the prime minister, announced last year that the government would roll out a compulsory national digital ID, at first as a way of proving that employees have a right to work in the UK.
The government has since dropped the idea of making it compulsory, saying workers would instead be able to show other forms of ID as proof of right to work, such as passport scans.
On Tuesday, Jones will outline possible other uses for the scheme, designed mainly to make it easier to access public services.
A government spokesperson said: “Digital ID will make everyday life easier for people, ensuring public services are more personal, joined-up, and effective.”
Those uses will not involve the NHS, however, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, having expressed his own scepticism about the scheme. Nor will it be used to provide special educational needs support, with Phillipson having decided against digital Send passports as part of the reforms she announced last month.
Ministers have been concerned by some of the negative responses the idea has garnered, some of which have been fuelled by misinformation. The BBC recently had to apologise after its comedy show Have I Got News For You said falsely that the contract for the project had been granted to Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony.
Officials hope the citizens’ assembly – a process used in Ireland to build consent around issues such as abortion laws – will help improve trust in the scheme. The panel will meet over several weekends, interviewing experts and officials and hosting public debates, before coming up with its own recommendations.
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