Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage innovation in (a) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (b) the DVLA, (c) HS2 Ltd. and (d) National Highways.

The UK Government has an overarching goal of making the UK a global hub for innovation, placing innovation at the centre of everything the nation does. We can see this within our Public Bodies:

1. Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The MCA is committed to supporting innovation in maritime. This includes:

- Taking an enabling approach to regulation of innovative future maritime technologies,

- Implementation of the UK Concierge Service and the My MCA technology platform supporting customers and the UK economy, and

- Empowering and supporting staff to explore innovative ways of working, including digital technology, to make best use of resources.

1. DVLA

The DVLA builds its new software and services using the very latest methodologies and technologies. Examples include:

- It is a fast adopter of cutting edge features offered by public cloud infrastructure so it can deliver quicker, safer and serve greater numbers of customers than ever before.

- The DVLA’s in-house TechLab research emerging technologies, including how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assist in building software to support motorists though their interactions with DVLA.

- The DVLA has used these innovations most recently in the development of its driver and vehicles account. When fully rolled out, the account will fundamentally change how the DVLA operates, allowing individuals to authenticate, register and return to DVLA services, view and manage their details, set notification preferences (including reminders) and seamlessly link to the services they need.

1. HS2 Ltd.

HS2 Ltd is at the forefront of innovation within the construction industry and has an obligation to incentivise innovation across the supply chain under the Development Agreement.

Innovation across the programme has made HS2 more efficient with hundreds of millions saved through an accelerator programme to fast-track technology and ideas into the supply chain. Since its launch in September 2020, the accelerator has supported 25 SMEs, raised £220 million in investment, funding and contracts, and helped to create 418 new STEM jobs. Two of the SMEs supported through the accelerator have recently been through an acquisition on the basis of their success.

D. National Highways

National Highways have an innovation and modernisation fund. The Department has provided £216m to NH for this fund during RIS2 (covering the period 2020-2025).

They will use it to research and develop emerging technologies which have the potential to revolutionise what it means to travel on our roads. They will also use this fund to produce new requirements and guidance for proven concepts, enabling the widespread adoption of innovations to modernise the road network. The fund is split across 5 themes:

- Design, construction, and maintenance

- Connected and autonomous vehicles

- Customer mobility

- Energy and environment

- Operations

The Department expect a similar approach to be continued in RIS3 (covering the period 2025-30) which is currently in development.