Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the £100 million of new R&D funding to support commercial deployment of connected and self-driving technologies and the creation of a safety assurance framework, announced in Connected & Automated Mobility 2025: Realising the benefits of self-driving vehicles in the UK, published in August 2022, from which specific departmental budget headings that spending will be funded.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Of the £100 million funding allocated to the Government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, as set out in the Connected and Automated Mobility 2025 paper:
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of private investment that will be leveraged in by the Government's £100 million of new Research and Development funding for the commercial deployment of connected and self-driving technologies.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government has allocated £100 million to the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles to create a European-leading commercial market for connected and automated mobility (CAM) in the UK by 2025, building on £400 million joint investment with industry and unlocking at least £790 million further private investment.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of involving abled and disabled non drivers involved in the development of driverless cars and their regulation in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has ongoing research, analysis and public engagement programmes which seek to understand the opportunities associated with new transport technologies. Examples informing our view on the potential benefits of self-driving vehicles (SDVs) include:
In addition, Government is funding world-leading projects to explore how SDVs can improve mobility for an ageing population (in Bristol) and visually impaired people (in Birmingham), including the world’s first 4D tactile display in an automated vehicle. Separately in 2019, Coventry’s Aurrigo partnered with Blind Veterans UK on the world’s first trial of self-driving pods with blind veterans (in Brighton).
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (‘the Commissions’) recently published their recommendations for a legal framework for SDVs, and consulted widely on how to ensure SDVs are made accessible to disabled people as the recommendations were developed. The Commissions’ final recommendations include an advisory panel to guide the issuing of permits for passenger services, which would include representatives for disabled (and older) people. We are considering the Commissions’ final recommendations and will make a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the possibility of having (a) differently-abled and (b) disabled non-drivers involved in the development of driverless cars and their regulation in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has ongoing research, analysis and public engagement programmes which seek to understand the opportunities associated with new transport technologies. Examples informing our view on the potential benefits of self-driving vehicles (SDVs) include:
In addition, Government is funding world-leading projects to explore how SDVs can improve mobility for an ageing population (in Bristol) and visually impaired people (in Birmingham), including the world’s first 4D tactile display in an automated vehicle. Separately in 2019, Coventry’s Aurrigo partnered with Blind Veterans UK on the world’s first trial of self-driving pods with blind veterans (in Brighton).
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (‘the Commissions’) recently published their recommendations for a legal framework for SDVs, and consulted widely on how to ensure SDVs are made accessible to disabled people as the recommendations were developed. The Commissions’ final recommendations include an advisory panel to guide the issuing of permits for passenger services, which would include representatives for disabled (and older) people. We are considering the Commissions’ final recommendations and will make a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing self-driving vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport has ongoing research, analysis and public engagement programmes which seek to understand the opportunities associated with new transport technologies. Examples informing our view on the potential benefits of self-driving vehicles (SDVs) include:
In addition, Government is funding world-leading projects to explore how SDVs can improve mobility for an ageing population (in Bristol) and visually impaired people (in Birmingham), including the world’s first 4D tactile display in an automated vehicle. Separately in 2019, Coventry’s Aurrigo partnered with Blind Veterans UK on the world’s first trial of self-driving pods with blind veterans (in Brighton).
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (‘the Commissions’) recently published their recommendations for a legal framework for SDVs, and consulted widely on how to ensure SDVs are made accessible to disabled people as the recommendations were developed. The Commissions’ final recommendations include an advisory panel to guide the issuing of permits for passenger services, which would include representatives for disabled (and older) people. We are considering the Commissions’ final recommendations and will make a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many officials in their Department were dedicated to their Department's responsibilities associated with the delivery of the Industrial Strategy in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Transport plays an important role in supporting the aims of the 2017 Industrial Strategy; central both to the Infrastructure Foundation and the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge. Key areas of activity span the department, for example in areas such as Transport for the North and Midlands Connect, local transport investment through the Transforming Cities Fund and policies on EV infrastructure and incentives. A cross-Department Future of Transport (FoT) programme has also been established to manage changes in transport technology over the decade, including (1) a regulatory review to address barriers to deployment; (2) Future Transport Zones to enable local authorities to actively engage and shape transport innovations; and (3) sector-specific work in zero emission and connected/automated vehicles to secure UK leadership.
DfT contributions to delivery of the Industrial Strategy are not localised within specific teams across the department, and so we are unable to provide officials numbers as requested. However, for example there has been an increase in officials supporting the Office for Low Emission Vehicles programme, and a further increase for officials supporting electric and autonomous vehicles. These programmes share common outcomes with the Industrial Strategy, particularly in meeting the grand challenge set for the Future of Mobility in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Oates (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the opportunities for urban fulfilment centres to connect warehousing and factories to urban customers using automated delivery systems.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the potential benefits of automation for the movement of people and goods. Since 2015, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles has enabled joint government and industry investment of £440m into UK connected and automated mobility technology.
The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles has engaged with the connected and automated mobility, logistics and manufacturing sectors to understand potential use cases of automation in delivery systems.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of driverless car technology.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the transformative potential that Connected and Automated Vehicles technologies have for mobility and our transport system, and the significant opportunities that exist for UK industry in their development and commercialisation. The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles was established in July 2015 between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Transport, to lead on this agenda.