The UK government’s major projects watchdog has recommended that the Gov.uk Verify identity assurance programme should be terminated.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) conducted a review of Verify, the government’s flagship digital identity system, in July, and found Whitehall departments were reluctant to continue funding the project.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) had submitted a business case for a “reset” of the troubled programme that required extra budget for further development and to pay the external identity providers (IDPs) that underpin the system, but sources say there is little appetite in the Treasury to provide additional funds for a project that is seen to be failing. Three-year contracts with the IDPs are due to end this month.

GDS is understood to have spent at least £130m on Verify so far, most or all of which would be written off if the project folds. The IDPs are required to support existing Verify services for 12 months after their contracts end, but sources say further funding would be needed to pay the companies during that period. GDS has not announced any plans for a new procurement exercise to sign up new or additional IDPs.

IDPs are paid a fee for every Verify identity they assure, and renewal fees every year for existing users. Those charges were intended to reduce as the volume of Verify users grew, but adoption of the system has been poor.

In 2015, when GDS appointed the IDPs, “the government's aim [was] that all the central government services that need identity assurance for individuals will be using Gov.uk Verify by March 2016,” according to the contract notice published at the time.

Originally known as the Identity Assurance programme, the Verify project started in 2011, and eventually went live in 2016 after a series of delays. In 2017, the government committed to having 25 million users of Verify by 2020 – a promise that also made its way into the Conservative Party manifesto for the general election last year.