LONDON

Registration with a new digital ID scheme will no longer be required to prove eligibility to work in the UK, though ministers said digital right-to-work checks will still become mandatory by 2029.

The government dropped plans to require workers to sign up to its digital ID scheme to prove their right to work in the UK, marking a significant shift from a policy announced last year.

Under the revised approach, right-to-work checks will be carried out digitally by 2029, for example, by using biometric passports, but registering with the new digital ID program will be optional.

The shift is the latest in a series of reversals since the government came to power, following climbdowns on welfare reforms, cuts to winter fuel payments and changes to inheritance tax for farmers.

When the policy was first set out, ministers argued that mandatory digital ID for workers would make it easier to clamp down on immigrants working illegally.

The scheme is now understood to be less narrowly focused on immigration, with greater emphasis placed on the potential benefits of digital ID for accessing public services.

Despite the change, ministers insist that digital right-to-work checks will still be compulsory.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC on Tuesday that the government is "absolutely committed" to mandatory digital checks, including the use of biometric passports, and said digitization would strengthen enforcement against illegal working.

"The digital ID could be one way in which you prove your eligibility to work through a digital right to work check," she said. "At the moment we've got a paper-based system - there's no proper records kept. It makes it very difficult then to target enforcement action sensibly against businesses that are employing illegal workers.”