Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the development of connected and autonomous vehicles.

The Government recognises the strong science and engineering capability of the United Kingdom and has committed to encourage development of autonomous and connected vehicles in our country.

The "Pathway to Driverless Car" report, published by the Department for Transport in February 2015, reviews the current legal position and sets out necessary steps to ensure laws are appropriate to accommodate the use of autonomous vehicles.

This report will help facilitate a 3-year trial of driverless car technology being undertaken in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich. The Department for Transport, together with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Her Majesty’s Treasury are providing £19m to support this activity.

The Department for Transport believes that these technologies have the potential to deliver benefits for the UK automotive sector and society as a whole, and we have an ambition to make the UK a world leader for autonomous vehicle research, development, demonstration, and deployment.

Working with Department for Business Innovation and Skills, we will be looking at how to realise this ambition and consider all possible routes for promoting technological developments and uptake.