Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the (a) development and (b) deployment of self-driving vehicles in the UK.

The UK Code of Practice for trialling self-driving vehicles on public roads is recognised as one of the most open in the world. Government is working to consider whether updates to the Code of Practice are needed to support advanced trials.

Since 2015, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles has enabled joint public and private investment of over £400 million into connected and self-driving vehicle innovation and has supported over 90 collaborative projects, involving over 200 organisations. These projects include £200m to establish a globally unique testing infrastructure.

In August 2022 the government published ‘Connected & Automated Mobility 2025: Realising the benefits of self-driving vehicles in the UK’, setting out its work to enable the deployment of self-driving vehicles in the UK by 2025. This includes bringing forward proposals for a comprehensive regulatory, legislative and safety framework.

Over the next three years, government will provide a further £100m of funding for Connected and Automated Mobility technology research and innovation, with £66m aimed at progressing from technology development towards commercial deployment, and £34m to support research into connected and self-driving vehicle safety assurance and preparation within the motoring agencies to carry out their new roles.