Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of plans to introduce fully autonomous taxi services in London by late 2026; and how regulatory, safety and workforce issues relating to autonomous vehicles are being addressed.

The Government intends to introduce the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme in Spring 2026 to regulate self-driving taxi-and private-hire-like and bus-like services.

Self-driving vehicles intended for use within a commercial APS fleet will need to undergo an assessment, by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), to demonstrate that they can safely drive themselves at all times.

The initial roll-out of automated services is expected to be more small-scale, and we anticipate that automated services can complement human-driven services.