Written question asked by Rebecca Smith (Conservative) on Friday, 29 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 2 June 2026. It was answered by Keir Mather (Labour) on Friday, 5 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Unmanned Marine Systems
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of a sandbox for marine autonomy on innovation and growth among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
- Answer
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As announced in the King’s Speech, the Regulating for Growth Bill will create cross-economy “sandboxing powers”. The Department for Transport will explore the use of these powers to establish a regulatory sandbox for maritime autonomy.
The sandbox is not a physical location. The intention of the sandbox is to enable controlled, live‑market trials where existing laws can be modified or suspended to allow experimentation, while generating robust evidence on safety, security and environmental protection.
The Regulating for Growth Bill is planned for the second session, and Government will work in collaboration with industry, including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, to ensure the sandbox delivers real change that responds to the sector’s needs.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 4736
- Session
- 2026-27
- Grouped for answer
- Yes
- Transferred
- Yes
- Subjects
- Innovation Small businesses Testing Unmanned marine systems
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2026-08-13 08:36:46 +0100
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/4736
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/4736
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2026-27/4736