Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans the Regulatory Innovation Office has for regulating self-driving delivery robots that operate primarily on pavements, alongside regulation of airborne drones.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) is not a regulator. Responsibility for regulating pavement robots and drones lies with the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority, respectively. One of the RIO’s current focuses is 'drones & other autonomous technology', which includes pavement robots, a promising technology for the UK. The RIO is working with the Department for Transport to understand the regulatory interventions the government could take to stimulate their rollout in the UK.