Ben Everitt is the MP for Milton Keynes North.
Last month’s Autumn Statement struck the right balance between maintaining the Conservative Party’s record for fiscal responsibility, being honest with the public about the global economic challenges that lie ahead, and protecting the most vulnerable in our society.
Stimulating growth is critical to boosting and driving forward our recovery. One of the best routes to achieving this is by embracing innovative technologies. Self-driving technology is one of the best opportunities on offer for levelling up our country for all. According to the Government’s own figures, connected and automated mobility (CAM) is estimated to unlock a total of £42 billion by 2035. It could create as many as 38,000 green jobs sector-wide.
Self-driving technology can be a post-Brexit national success story. The UK already leads the world in this technology’s investment and development. But we need to continue ensuring the right legislative framework to maintain our lead against European competitors. The Government has matched this ambition, directly supporting over 200 companies with funding. A further 35 have also secured additional private investment totalling £790 million.
Automated mobility will create tens of thousands of jobs in every corner of the UK. Fundamental to this is the wider enablement industry, including leading businesses such as AXA UK, the insurer, Burges Salmon, the law firm, and WSP, the transport consultancy who support the APPG I chair on this. It will also play an important role in delivering the Government’s ambition of reaching Net-Zero by 2050.
Automated mobility has long been considered as a niche area of technology. Yet it has real potential to deliver value, in both urban and rural environments. The technology is already delivering for local communities, improving connectivity, creating much-needed new jobs, including apprenticeships, and improving access to services. I’m delighted to see these benefits in my constituency of Milton Keynes North where the UK Autodrive project was trialled. It addressed crucial issues such as congestion on our roads.
There are many examples demonstrating this technology’s power. For example, Starship, in Milton Keynes, use a combination of mobile technology and autonomous robots to work with restaurants and local businesses to deliver meals in a cost efficient way. In agriculture, we’re already seeing increased use of CAM technology to boost farming yields. In freight and logistics it has been consolidating and increasing efficiency to improve supply chain resilience.
Self-driving technologies in freight & logistics, agritech, public transport and shared transport can help smooth and reduce traffic flow and reduce emissions, improving air quality for all and helping the UK to build back greener.
Legislating will be critical to unleashing this technology, unlocking inward investment, and boosting economic growth. I was delighted that the Government committed to expanding this technology in the Queen’s Speech earlier this year, committing to “new laws that safely enable the development of self-driving and remotely operated vehicles and vessels”. I encourage the Government to bring forward legislation for self-driving technology as soon as possible, especially if we want to attract inward investment.
The Government has done great work in ensuring public investment is directed towards CAM technology. We cannot miss the boat and risk losing out to our European neighbours and international partners. Indeed, the European Commission is undertaking work to introduce legislation to enable the wider deployment of self-driving vehicles. We’re already seeing signs that the UK’s position as a world leader in research and development is at risk as uncertainty continues around investment.
I know the Government is serious about facilitating expanded investment. We need to deliver on the legislative framework to truly unlock the benefits of CAM technology, drive growth, and support our economic recovery from the recession.
Ben Everitt is the MP for Milton Keynes North.
Last month’s Autumn Statement struck the right balance between maintaining the Conservative Party’s record for fiscal responsibility, being honest with the public about the global economic challenges that lie ahead, and protecting the most vulnerable in our society.
Stimulating growth is critical to boosting and driving forward our recovery. One of the best routes to achieving this is by embracing innovative technologies. Self-driving technology is one of the best opportunities on offer for levelling up our country for all. According to the Government’s own figures, connected and automated mobility (CAM) is estimated to unlock a total of £42 billion by 2035. It could create as many as 38,000 green jobs sector-wide.
Self-driving technology can be a post-Brexit national success story. The UK already leads the world in this technology’s investment and development. But we need to continue ensuring the right legislative framework to maintain our lead against European competitors. The Government has matched this ambition, directly supporting over 200 companies with funding. A further 35 have also secured additional private investment totalling £790 million.
Automated mobility will create tens of thousands of jobs in every corner of the UK. Fundamental to this is the wider enablement industry, including leading businesses such as AXA UK, the insurer, Burges Salmon, the law firm, and WSP, the transport consultancy who support the APPG I chair on this. It will also play an important role in delivering the Government’s ambition of reaching Net-Zero by 2050.
Automated mobility has long been considered as a niche area of technology. Yet it has real potential to deliver value, in both urban and rural environments. The technology is already delivering for local communities, improving connectivity, creating much-needed new jobs, including apprenticeships, and improving access to services. I’m delighted to see these benefits in my constituency of Milton Keynes North where the UK Autodrive project was trialled. It addressed crucial issues such as congestion on our roads.
There are many examples demonstrating this technology’s power. For example, Starship, in Milton Keynes, use a combination of mobile technology and autonomous robots to work with restaurants and local businesses to deliver meals in a cost efficient way. In agriculture, we’re already seeing increased use of CAM technology to boost farming yields. In freight and logistics it has been consolidating and increasing efficiency to improve supply chain resilience.
Self-driving technologies in freight & logistics, agritech, public transport and shared transport can help smooth and reduce traffic flow and reduce emissions, improving air quality for all and helping the UK to build back greener.
Legislating will be critical to unleashing this technology, unlocking inward investment, and boosting economic growth. I was delighted that the Government committed to expanding this technology in the Queen’s Speech earlier this year, committing to “new laws that safely enable the development of self-driving and remotely operated vehicles and vessels”. I encourage the Government to bring forward legislation for self-driving technology as soon as possible, especially if we want to attract inward investment.
The Government has done great work in ensuring public investment is directed towards CAM technology. We cannot miss the boat and risk losing out to our European neighbours and international partners. Indeed, the European Commission is undertaking work to introduce legislation to enable the wider deployment of self-driving vehicles. We’re already seeing signs that the UK’s position as a world leader in research and development is at risk as uncertainty continues around investment.
I know the Government is serious about facilitating expanded investment. We need to deliver on the legislative framework to truly unlock the benefits of CAM technology, drive growth, and support our economic recovery from the recession.