NHSX team behind beleaguered contact tracing app now working on vaccine passports

Michael Gove tells MPs that digital agency has shifted focus

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove is heading up a review of vaccine passports (Getty Images)

The team behind the beleaguered development of the government's contact tracing app has turned its attention to vaccine passports, MPs have been told.

Cabinet office minister Michael Gove on Monday launched a charm offensive to convince sceptical MPs of the need for the certificates, which are controversial with civil liberties campaigners.

Mr Gove, who is leading the government's review into whether the policy is needed, held a one hour video call with the group as part of a "listening exercise".

But The Times newspaper reports that the minister caused consternation when he revealed that NHSX, the developers behind the contact tracing app, had begun developing a passport system.

“At that point lots of people on the call said ‘oh no!’,” one MP told The Times.

Read more:

• Boris Johnson news live: Latest Brexit updates
• British expats leaving Spain to avoid illegal immigrant status after Brexit
• Jennifer Arcuri tells of ‘four-year affair’ with Boris Johnson
• Brexiteers ask public for ‘treasures’ to put in Museum of Brexit

The reputation of NHSX suffered during the development of the contact tracing app, whose roll-out faced a number of problems.

The original "centralised" concept for the app had to be scrapped after fundamental problems with the approach – which the government had been warned about for months.

The finished app has also played a relatively limited role in contact tracing since it was launched.

Mr Gove's review into vaccine passports is set to report interim findings on 5 April, covering both domestic certification and international travel.

Boris Johnson told MPs last week that people could be asked to provide proof they have been vaccinated before they were allowed to visit pubs.

The prime minister said the approach would be "up to individual publicans”, though he suggested certificates would not be issued until every adult had been offered a jab.

The Department for Health and Social Care did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.