Officials insist OBR relied on 'early estimate' and real figure won't emerge until next year

The head of the department delivering the UK government's digital identity scheme has rejected the £1.8 billion cost forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), but is not willing to provide an alternative until after a delayed consultation on the plans.

The OBR, which provides independent analysis of government spending, made the estimate in its Budget analysis documents published at the end of last month.

But on December 3, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's permanent secretary, Emran Mian, told a House of Commons select committee that the cost will depend on the outcome of a consultation that has been pushed back to the new year.

Mian informed a meeting of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee that the consultation will cover what a digital identity will contain, how citizens will access it, and what range of uses it will have.

"Only once we have ...