ALL THINGS LICENSING
Government consults on self-driving vehicles law
Finally, looking to the future, Lilian Greenwood, Future of Roads Minister, has launched a consultation on the automated passenger services (APS) permitting scheme and the draft statutory instrument, a key legal element of how taxi-, private- hire- and bus-like services of self-driving vehicles will be regulated once they hit roads in Great Britain.
The Automated passenger services: permitting scheme consultation will close on 28th September 2025.
The Government says that the new scheme is intended to be flexible and avoid the various challenges of applying existing legislation. Introducing this scheme is intended to provide greater regulatory confidence for businesses to deploy services and build an understanding of viable commercial models.
The consultation sets out plans for a national authority for services that resemble a PSV, (the Secretary of State for Transport), while for devolved services resembling a taxi or PHV it will be the Secretary of State for Transport in England, and in Scotland or Wales, the power is with Scottish or Welsh Ministers). Where a service resembles a taxi or PHV, a permit may only be issued with the consent of the licensing authority for each place where the service is provided.
The consultation follows the recent government decision to fast-track pilots of self-driving passenger vehicles to Spring 2026, helping the industry to innovate and grow. This will allow firms to pilot small- scale services without a safety driver for the first time – which could be available to members of the public to book via an app – before a potential wider rollout when the Automated Vehicles Act is implemented in full from the second half of 2027. Bringing forward the pilots of self-driving vehicles will help the government deliver the Plan for Change by creating 38,000 jobs to put money in people’s pockets, driving investment to back British engineering excellence and unlocking an industry worth £42 billion by 2035.
Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said:
“Self-driving vehicles are one of the most exciting opportunities to improve transport for
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so many people, especially those in rural areas or unable to drive. We want to work with passengers and industry to make this new form of transport safe and accessible, as we take our next steps towards adoption.
“This technology doesn’t just have the potential to improve transport for millions of people. It will help stimulate innovation, create thousands of jobs, and drive investment to put more money in people’s pockets – all part of delivering our Plan for Change.”
Through the consultation, representative groups, industry stakeholders, trade unions and members of the public will be able to make their views heard and influence future government policy over a variety of areas critical for self-driving vehicles to run safely and efficiently.
These include:
l how self-driving vehicles can be made as accessible as possible for disabled and older people
l how services of self-driving vehicles are approved by councils
l when a permit to operate a service should be varied, suspended or withdrawn
The APS scheme is an essential part of the of the Automated Vehicles Act, which will regulate taxi, private hire and bus-like self-driving vehicles once it is implemented in full in the second half of 2027.
The Automated Vehicles Act will require self-driving vehicles to achieve a level of safety at least as high as competent and careful human drivers, and they will undergo rigorous safety tests before being allowed on our roads.
Self-driving trials have been taking place in the UK since January 2015, with British companies Wayve and Oxa spearheading significant breakthroughs in the technology.
This new legislation represents a significant departure from the current local taxi and PHV regime as it creates a national framework. Local authorities, under the terms of the Act, will still play a key role in this process. Councils would need to provide or withhold consent to any company that proposed to offer services resembling taxis or PHVs before an APS permit can be granted by central government.
AUGUST 2025 PHTM
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