Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to ensure that vehicles sold in the UK will have automatic headlamp levelling systems by 2027.

Recognising the global nature of the automotive industry, the detailed technical requirements for new vehicles are typically developed within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), in which the UK is an active member. The UNECE amended its regulations in 2023 to include requirements for automatic headlamp levelling. Vehicle manufacturers can already approve vehicles to this latest regulation, but the transitional provisions covering these requirements run from September 2027 to September 2030 and it would breach our international treaty obligations to mandate these provisions for all vehicles sold during this period.

The domestic vehicle type-approval regulation sets the minimum standards to be met by vehicles before entering service in Great Britain, and is kept under constant review. A decision on automatic headlamp levelling will be taken in due course.