Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government's response to Professor Dame Angela McLean's Pro-Innovation Regulation of Technologies review, published November 2023, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of accepting the recommendation on establishing an evidence gathering pilot.

This recommendation referred to here is that the government should facilitate an ‘evidence gathering pilot’ where regulators may seek clarification from the government on balancing strategic risks, if needed (Cross-Cutting report, 2d).

No clear cases were presented by the regulators to the Review of where they would have used this mechanism if it had been available previously.

To better facilitate an understanding of where regulators require further support, the government has issued a call for evidence on the regulatory landscape. Within this, regulators are directly asked on whether there are “specific areas where you consider it would be beneficial to seek further steer or guidance from the government”. The call for evidence closes on 7 January 2024. The government would welcome hearing of use cases where a regulator request for guidance on risk would have changed outcomes.