Regulatory Innovation Office

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Peter Kyle)]

British innovators and businesses are developing world-leading products and services powered by technologies such as artificial intelligence. However, they often encounter barriers and delays from red tape when trying to get started. This is why the Government pledged in our manifesto to establish a new Regulatory Innovation Office—a priority for ensuring innovation and promoting new opportunities for technologies through focused collaboration in the regulatory environment.

The RIO will help position Britain as the best place in the world to innovate by ensuring safety, speeding up regulatory decisions and providing clear direction in line with our modern industrial strategy. Today, I am pleased to update you on the early progress we have made to establish the RIO and foster safe innovation through regulation.

We are setting up the RIO as an office within DSIT, expanding existing functions such as the Regulatory Horizons Council and introducing new programmes to match our increased ambitions to support innovation. Consistent with our mission-driven approach, the RIO will work closely with other Departments to unlock change, including the Department for Business and Trade, which will continue to oversee wider cross-cutting work on regulator performance.

The new office will have three core pillars of activity: knowledge, strategy and capability building. The knowledge pillar will enhance our understanding of regulatory barriers to innovation, drawing on the work of the Regulatory Horizons Council. To address the most critical barriers, the strategy pillar will set clear priorities for regulatory innovation, aligning with our missions and industrial strategy, while ensuring safety. Through the capability building pillar, the RIO will work with regulators to ensure they have the necessary tools to achieve our shared goals. For example, it will build on the work of the regulators’ pioneer fund to provide strategic grant funding to regulators supporting the responsible development of novel or experimental regulatory approaches and on the work of the Regulators’ Innovation Network to share skills and disseminate best practice among regulators.

The RIO’s immediate focus will be on priority areas: drones and other autonomous technology, engineering biology, space, artificial intelligence and digital in healthcare. These four areas hold significant potential to drive innovation in support of the Government’s missions, particularly our mission to grow the economy. For example, the UK drone economy is projected to be worth up to £45 billion by 2030, if fully adopted. The cross-cutting nature of these emerging technologies, which do not fit neatly into existing regulatory frameworks can mean a slower process in getting them on to the market. The new office will work closely with Departments, including the Department for Transport, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, ensuring that while the RIO actively collaborates on addressing regulatory barriers, regulatory responsibility remains with the relevant Department. The new office will also bring regulators together and work to remove unnecessary obstacles and outdated regulations to the benefit of businesses and the public, unlocking the power of innovation from these sectors to generate tens of billions of pounds for the UK economy in the coming years.

We will also shortly be progressing a campaign to appoint a chair. The chair will offer trusted advice and challenge to both officials and regulators, helping to shape the design of the new office and supporting its successful delivery.

In the coming months, we will work in partnership with industry and regulators to address barriers in these critical sectors and unlock new opportunities.

Alongside the RIO, I am pleased to share our wider progress in supporting regulatory innovation. These advancements demonstrate how we can foster an environment where innovation thrives by adapting our regulatory approach:

We are publishing on gov.uk our response to the Regulatory Horizon Council’s quantum report, accepting 11 of the 14 recommendations (and accepting in principle the remaining 3). This will see the UK become the first nation to outline its regulatory approach to quantum technologies, providing certainty to businesses and encouraging the responsible development of the sector. A copy of this report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

We are announcing the winners of the first round of the engineering biology sandbox fund. The sandbox will accelerate regulatory reforms for engineering biology-derived products and improve the quality of decision-making when assessing these products.

Working closely with the Cabinet Office, we are publishing voluntary screening guidance for the providers and users of synthetic nucleic acid. The guidance contributes to the UK’s vision of unlocking the societal and economic benefits of engineering biology research and innovation, while mitigating associated risks. The guidance keeps the UK at the forefront internationally of fostering responsible innovation in this transformative technology.

I am confident that together we can unlock Britain’s dynamism and innovation, and kick-start economic growth.

[HCWS111]