Draft Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2026

I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mrs Barker. The draft order, which was laid before the House on 30 June, makes an important change to the alcohol licensing framework in England and Wales. It will allow licensed premises and club premises with a certificate to accept digital proof of age for the sale and supply of alcohol where that proof is provided through a digital verification service that is independently assessed against the UK digital verification services trust framework and listed on the statutory DVS register, and where the relevant licensing conditions are met. The measure offers those fortunate enough still to be asked for ID—whether they regard that as flattering or frustrating—an additional way to prove their age. Where a licensed premises or club premises with a certificate chooses to accept it, a person will be able to use properly verified digital proof of age, rather than relying on a passport, driving licence or other physical documents. The mandatory licensing conditions currently require physical proof-of-age documents that bear a photograph, a date of birth and either a holographic mark or an ultraviolet feature. This remains a valid and important route for age verification. The draft order does not remove physical ID, does not require anyone to use digital proof of age and does not require a licensed premises or club premises to accept digital proof of age. It simply gives consumers and premises another option. There are clear, practical benefits. Many people do not want to routinely carry valuable documents, such as a passport or driving licence, on a night out, or they might forget to bring them. It is reported that 57% of 18 to 25-year-olds have experienced forgetting their ID on a night out. There is also an important privacy and personal safety benefit: a driving licence may reveal a person’s full address when the only question that needs to be answered is whether they are old enough to obtain alcohol. Digital proof of age can confirm that threshold without unnecessary personal information being shared, which is particularly relevant for individuals who may feel uncomfortable disclosing their address in busy night-time settings. The Government consulted on this issue between January and March 2024, and 72% of respondents supported the use of digital verification in the sale and supply of alcohol. The approach taken in the draft order reflects that support, while ensuring that providers meet Government-approved standards and that safeguards remain in place. The Licensing Act 2003 is built around four licensing objectives, including the protection of children from harm. That objective remains central to this reform. Digital proof of age will be permitted only where it is provided by a digital verification service that is independently assessed against the UK digital verification services trust framework and listed on the statutory register. This is not about simply showing a picture on a phone. I also want to be clear about what the draft order does not do. It is not a national digital identity scheme. It does not create an identity card, make digital ID compulsory, give the Government visibility of alcohol purchases or permit the use of facial age-estimation technology for the sale and supply of alcohol. This is a targeted and proportionate reform that sits alongside wider work across Government on future age-assurance methods for other age-restricted products, while preserving physical ID, supporting licensed premises and club premises and giving consumers greater choice. The current rules were drafted before secure digital verification was available. The draft order updates the framework to reflect modern consumer behaviour and technological change, while preserving the safeguards at the heart of the 2003 Act. For those reasons, I commend the draft order to the Committee.

I thank you, Mrs Barker, for chairing the debate. I do not think that anybody on the Committee objects in principle to making it easier for someone to prove that they are over 18 without having to carry a passport or similar around with them. There are obvious conveniences for consumers, and potentially for businesses, but I would like the Minister to provide some reassurance about where the measure sits within the Government’s wider approach to digital verification. The order before us appears relatively narrow. It allows licensed premises to rely on a registered digital verification service when checking somebody’s age. We are told that its use will be voluntary, that businesses will not have to accept digital identification and, importantly, that customers will still be able to use physical identification. I welcome that assurance, but I would like the Minister to put it beyond any doubt that there is no intention for digital identification to become, in practice or in law, the only reasonable means by which somebody can prove their age when purchasing alcohol. As technology changes, it is right that the means by which the Government regulate should expand to incorporate and utilise that technology. This should not be about digitally excluding people, but about increasing people’s options and choices and allowing people to do business more easily. As has been acknowledged, the work on this matter is based heavily on efforts begun under the Conservative Government, which were consulted on in 2024. Critically, that work was about ensuring that people have additional methods of proving their age, rather than requiring them to adopt a digital identity. As I see it, allowing shops, for example, to utilise existing verification schemes and then validate them with something like a QR code appears to be a sensible step for the Government to take. More and more people leave the house with only a phone in their pocket, making it all the more likely that their physical ID has been left at home. Giving them another means of proving their age is therefore a practical and sensible development. Although I have noted the likely benefits stemming from the measure, I would like to see clarity on a point made in the other place last week about whether cards bearing the PASS—proof of age standards scheme—hologram will continue to be recognised as the preferred form of physical proof of age. Can the Minister confirm that, in making these changes, there will be no change to the recognition of PASS hologram cards before the office for digital identities and attributes has provided its supporting analysis, and PASS and others have had a proper opportunity to respond? In addition, I understand that retailers in the wine and spirit trade have raised a technical concern about the meaning of the words “deliver identification”. Put simply, when somebody proves their age digitally, what information does the retailer actually need to receive? Is it sufficient for the digital verification provider to confirm that the customer meets the relevant age requirement, or must further identifying information be provided? I hope the Minister can confirm that that will be made absolutely clear to retailers in the updated guidance. Those may be small and more technical elements, but given retailers’ responsibility to ensure that they serve people of the appropriate age, it is critical that we get the regulations right to support businesses and make compliance easier, not more difficult. I would like to return briefly to the question of choice. The Government’s modelling assumes that the uptake of digital verification for this purpose will reach 100% after seven years. If that remains the assumption, can the Minister confirm that those who choose to use physical forms of identification will nevertheless continue to be able to do so? There will be people who do not have a smartphone, people who cannot readily use digital verification services and people who simply do not want to use digital identification. We would not want any of those individuals to be excluded. The benefit of the measure should be that it adds another option, not that the new option gradually becomes the only practical option. Overall, I recognise why the measure has been brought forward and the practical benefits that stem from it. In doing so, I hope that the Government ensure that the conditions they impose allow the system to operate effectively, give businesses the certainty they need and preserve genuine choice for the public. Digital technology can make proving our age more convenient. It should not make having a digital identity a prerequisite for participating in everyday life.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. The Liberal Democrats are supportive of the order. Individuals should be able to have the option to verify their age digitally, but we want to make it clear that doing so must not replace the use of physical ID. The option must always be retained, thereby giving young people the freedom to choose. It is important that the protections are robust and contain adequate safeguards to prevent misuse and ensure that digital identities are genuine. Will the Minister therefore set out whether she is satisfied that sufficient safeguards are in place to ensure that the system will be enforced in the prescribed manner? Furthermore, what discussions has she had with the sector about the implementation of the system? How will the change be communicated to the public? What future measures will the Government consider to ensure that age is verified effectively under the 2003 Act when alcohol sales take place remotely? What steps are they taking to monitor compliance and accountability, and where necessary to take enforcement action against companies certified under the DVS trust framework? I thank the Minister for clarifying that the order is not about going down the route of compulsory digital IDs. I reiterate that the Liberal Democrats are clear that a mandatory digital ID system would cross a red line. It would risk eroding long-held civil liberties. Digital tools should be about giving individuals more control over their personal data, not giving the Government more control over our lives. Our concern remains that a mandatory digital ID system could deepen digital exclusion and disproportionately affect society’s most marginalised: older people, people living in poverty, and disabled people, who often have limited access to digital devices or low digital literacy. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

I am grateful for both Members’ contributions. This legislation supports the objectives of strengthening age-verification safeguards and preventing under-age alcohol sales. It will allow licensed premises and club premises to use secure digital methods to verify age, thereby giving consumers greater choice and reducing the need for people to carry and present important physical documents, or to disclose unnecessary personal information, unless they choose to do so. It is reported that 57% of 18 to 25-year-olds have experienced forgetting their ID on a night out. It is also important to note that not everyone holds a passport or driving licence. Digital proof of age can be created using a wider range of evidence while still meeting the required standards, which may make trusted proof of age accessible to a broader range of people. The changes in the order are completely separate from the proposals for a national digital ID system, which are no longer being taken forward. Last year, the Government passed and commenced the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, establishing a legislative structure for the provision of trusted digital verification services and providing the statutory gateway for their use. Millions of people in Britain already use services that fall within that legal framework. The regulatory changes before us build on the existing regime. The purpose of this legislation is to remove an existing legal barrier that prevents secure digital proof of age from being used when people purchase alcohol. Physical proof-of-age documents will continue to be accepted. The legislation will not make digital proof of age mandatory. The Government are taking an enabling approach; the legislation provides an additional option rather than replacing existing forms of proof of age. Retailers remain free to decide which age-verification methods they accept, and consumers remain free to use physical proof-of-age documents. A digital PASS card could be used to buy alcohol if the amended mandatory licensing conditions—including that the digital proof of age based on information in the PASS card has been delivered by a certified and registered digital verification service provider—are met. The Government endorse all digital PASS cards to be used for age checks for the sale and supply of alcohol where the criteria set out in this legislation, and any relevant local licensing conditions, are met. The legislation includes safeguards for digital proofs of age—including technological verification that the proof of age is genuine and confirmation that it relates to the person presenting it—that do not apply to physical documents. Digital proof of age cannot be accepted based on visual inspection alone. Digital proofs of age for alcohol purchases must be provided by digital verification services that have been certified against the UK digital verification services trust framework and appear on the gov.uk register of certified services. This ensures that the services can be trusted to prove correctly and securely that the person is 18, or over such older age as is set out in the age-verification policy. I again thank the hon. Members for Stockton West and for Stratford-on-Avon for their thoughtful contributions to the debate. I recognise the concerns that have been expressed, and I hope my remarks have reassured Members that the Government have considered the issues carefully. This legislation will modernise the licensing regime, providing greater choice and convenience for consumers and support to businesses, while maintaining the safeguards necessary to protect children and promote public safety. I commend the draft order to the Committee. Question put and agreed to.