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Self-driving vehicles regulation

Lifecycle: Implementation Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles · Department for Transport · Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency · Ministry of Justice · Public Accounts Committee · Regulatory Policy Committee · Scottish Law Commission Last regenerated 1 month, 4 weeks ago · 7 new events since

Summary

What this is

A new GB regulatory regime for self-driving vehicles built on the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, comprising authorisation of vehicles against a self-driving test, licensing of authorised self-driving entities and no-user-in-charge operators, a statutory Statement of Safety Principles, an Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme, marketing-term restrictions and a reworked criminal liability framework.

Why it matters

The framework determines when and how driverless cars, shuttles, taxis and bus-like services can operate commercially on British roads from 2026, allocating safety, liability and enforcement responsibilities between manufacturers, operators, users and the state; it underpins ministerial commitments to enable commercial pilots without safety drivers from spring 2026.

Current status

Part 5 of the AV Act (APS permits) and s.93 (traffic-regulation information) commenced on 15 May 2026 by SI 2026/437; SI 2026/439 sets the permit procedure; the December 2025 – March 2026 call for evidence on the wider framework (Statement of Safety Principles, authorisation, operator licensing) has closed and government is preparing further secondary legislation and guidance.

What changed recently

  • 12 May 2026 — DfT and Wayve sign partnership to accelerate UK self-driving deployment →
  • 23 Apr 2026 — APS Permit Regulations SI 2026/439 made; ministerial statement and RPC opinion published alongside government response to APS consultation →
  • 21 Apr 2026 — Commencement No.2 Regulations (SI 2026/437) made, bringing Part 5 (except s.84 civil sanctions) and s.93 into force on 15 May 2026 →
  • 31 Mar 2026 — DfT publishes self-driving vehicle pilot scheme guidance for applicants and for first responders, and APS permit guidance for local authorities and transport bodies →
  • 5 Mar 2026 — Call for evidence on developing the wider AV regulatory framework closes after running from 4 December 2025 →

Key documents

Framework

Operationalising

Implementation

Scrutiny

Evidence

Consultations

Stakeholders

Grouped by role with evidence. Long groups scroll inside their column.

Sponsoring department 3

  • Department for Transport → src
    Lead department for AV regulation, sponsor of the 2024 Act, the APS Regulations 2026 and the implementation programme.
  • Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) → src
    Joint DfT/DSIT unit running the AV implementation programme, pilot schemes and supporting research.
  • Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency → src
    Anticipated regulator for vehicle authorisation and operator licensing functions under Parts 1–2 of the AV Act.

Sponsoring minister 4

  • Heidi Alexander → src
    Then Secretary of State for Transport when HCWS858 (July 2025) launched APS consultation; current SoS-level status not verified by live lookup — treat the WMS as historical.
  • Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill → src
    Then Minister of State for Transport (Lords); repeated WMSs on APS permitting (HLWS858 July 2025, HLWS1130 Dec 2025, HLWS1545 Apr 2026) and AV Act implementation — treat as historical, status unconfirmed.
  • Simon Lightwood → src
    Then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport; signed the December 2025 framework call-for-evidence WMS (HCWS1131) and the April 2026 APS permitting WMS (HCWS1537), and signed SI 2026/439 and SI 2026/437 — treat as historical.
  • Lilian Greenwood → src
    Then Future of Roads Minister; signed the June 2025 AV Act implementation WMS (HCWS692) announcing acceleration of APS regulations — treat as historical.

Regulator / delivery programme 3

  • Regulatory Policy Committee → src
    Issued formal opinion on the APS permitting scheme options assessment (April 2026) and earlier green-rated opinion on the AV Bill IA (Jan 2024).
  • Law Commission of England and Wales → src
    Co-author of the joint AV report (Law Com No 404) whose 75 recommendations are the doctrinal foundation of the 2024 Act.
  • Scottish Law Commission → src
    Co-author of the joint AV report (Scot Law Com No 258); responsible for Scottish-law dimensions of the regime.

Lead committee 2

  • Public Accounts Committee → src
    Considered AV technology in its local-roads follow-up; received Permanent Secretary correspondence on autonomous vehicles (Dec 2024).
  • Transport Committee (Commons) → src
    Published 'Self-driving vehicles' report (7th Report 2022–23) and government response (Nov 2023) which shaped the Bill's framing.

Witnesses & evidence-givers 1

  • Wayve → src
    AI self-driving technology company; signed partnership with HMG (May 2026) to accelerate UK self-driving deployment; previously raised $1.05bn funding (May 2024).

Commentator 6

  • Olly Glover MP → src
    Liberal Democrat MP focused on pavement/delivery-robot safety and accessibility, tabling PQs 129975 and 129976 (April 2026) on impact on public safety and wheelchair/visually-impaired users.
  • Tony Vaughan MP → src
    Labour MP; tabled PQ 129515 (April 2026) on broader road-safety steps including AV-related strategy.
  • Dr Scott Arthur MP → src
    Labour MP; tabled PQ 129740 (April 2026) on whether Advanced Driver Assistance Systems should be tested as part of the MOT, sitting at the AV/road-safety interface.
  • Sarah Coombes MP → src
    Labour MP who opened the 28 October 2025 Westminster Hall debate on Connected and Automated Vehicles.
  • Lord Davies of Gower → src
    Conservative peer; Lords sponsor of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
  • Mr Mark Harper → src
    Then Conservative Secretary of State for Transport; Commons sponsor of the AV Act 2024.

Political commitments

What parties and ministers have promised — manifesto pledges, King's Speech announcements, ministerial statements. Each card shows what was said, by whom, and when, with a link to the original source.

  • commitment Ministerial statement Conservative · 2024 · Self-driving vehicles set to be on roads by 2026 as Automated Vehicles Act beco…

    Self-driving vehicles on British roads by 2026

    Self-driving vehicles could be on British roads by 2026, after the government's world-leading Automated Vehicles (AV) Act became law today.

    Why linked: Royal Assent press release setting the 2026 commercial deployment commitment.

    Source: Self-driving vehicles set to be on roads by 2026 as Automated Vehicles Act becomes law · Original ↗
  • commitment Ministerial statement Labour · 2025 · Automated Vehicles Act 2024: Implementation — Ministerial Statement (Hansard)

    Accelerate APS regulations from spring 2026

    Today I can announce that the Government will accelerate the introduction of automated passenger services regulations, subject to the outcome of a consultation later this summer.

    Why linked: Greenwood WMS (HCWS692) committed Labour to bringing APS regulations forward.

    Source: Automated Vehicles Act 2024: Implementation — Ministerial Statement (Hansard) · Original ↗
  • commitment Ministerial statement Labour · 2025 · Connected and autonomous vehicles

    Commercial pilots without safety drivers from spring 2026

    From Spring 2026, commercial firms would be able to pilot self-driving vehicles on England's roads without a safety driver, for the first time.

    Why linked: June 2025 announcement reported in Commons Library briefing.

    Source: Connected and autonomous vehicles · Original ↗

Open questions & gaps

Known gaps in the evidence base and what's still pending.

Pending in the lifecycle

  • Statement of Safety Principles under s.2 has not yet been issued in final statutory form; the call for evidence closed in September 2025.
  • Authorisation regulations under Part 1 (s.11) and operator-licensing regulations under Chapter 2 (s.12–13) still to be made.
  • s.84 (civil sanctions for APS permit infringements) and Schedule 6 not yet commenced; SI 2026/437 deliberately excludes them.
  • Government response to the December 2025–March 2026 wider framework call for evidence still to be published.

Beyond the corpus

  • MISSING Final Statement of Safety Principles — Section 2 of the Act requires its publication; authorisation cannot operate at scale without it.
  • MISSING Authorisation procedure regulations under s.11 — Needed for substantive authorisation decisions to begin.
  • MISSING Operator licensing regulations under s.12 — Required to license no-user-in-charge fleet operators.

Confidence gaps

  • Whether the DVSA, a new body or a hybrid will operate the authorisation and operator-licensing regimes is not finally settled in the corpus.
  • Treatment of delivery robots / pavement robots — referenced as 'micromobility', explicitly outside the AV Act framework, but the legislative vehicle has not been named.