Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, or plan to take, to control the ownership and use of drones and to minimise their use for illegal purposes.

This Government is delivering the following reforms in the Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

(a) From 1 January 2026, all drones weighing 100g or more with a camera must be registered.

(b) From 1 January 2026, drones weighing 250g or more must have geo-awareness requirements. Then, from 1^st January 2028, Geo-awareness requirements will apply to all drones weighing 100g or more with a camera.

(c) From 1 January 2026, drones weighing 250g or more must have remote identification (RID) requirements. Then, from 1^st January 2028, RID will apply to drones weighing 100g or more with a camera.

These reforms will improve traceability because they will enforce the registration of a RID “digital numberplate” that can be linked to a registered operator. Geo-awareness and RID will help law enforcement to target the actively non-compliant drones that have switched off RID and are ignoring geo-awareness alerts of airspace restrictions, therefore reducing the volume of incidents and length of investigation for suspicious drone activity.