Government cuts red tape to revolutionise public services with cutting-edge tech

• New funding will fast-track ground-breaking innovations such as drones delivering medicines in the Scottish islands to firefighters using AI to spot fire risks faster
• Slashing unnecessary red tape will help NHS patients, improve safety and speed up delivery of public services
• Regulatory Innovation Office will reduce the burden for innovative businesses such as drones and engineering biology that could be worth billions to the UK

From drones delivering medical supplies in the Scottish islands, to AI tools that are helping get new medicines safely approved for use sooner, as the government has announced it is slashing the red tape that holds back groundbreaking innovations from coming to market.

The government is providing an £8.9 million boost, following the Regional Investment Summit, for 16 projects to cut through out-dated red tape so that the UK's innovators can get new technologies out of the lab and into use sooner.  

The funding, being delivered through the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), will also support efforts like an AI smartphone app, that's helping London Fire Brigade to risk-assess homes and businesses. It's also helping local authorities deliver value for money - like in Milton Keynes where street-sweeping robots will be trialled.

These are tools that will support better public services and offer huge opportunities for innovative British businesses to trade and grow – supported by a regulatory environment that enables innovation. The RIO is the government's dedicated team established to reduce the burden for innovative businesses, and over the last 12 months has supported reforms that are boosting the economy, right now. In one case a company secured a £23 million contract with the National Grid, to inspect power lines with drones, that was only made possible thanks to regulatory changes which enabled that work.  

As a new report published today highlights, those efforts have led to faster risk assessments for the use of drones - a sector potentially worth £45 billion by 2030 - as well as extending the trials of a game-changing drone blood delivery service at St Thomas's and Guy's hospital. While work supporting the UK's burgeoning space sector has led to world leading efforts to better regulate space missions like satellite life-extension, inspection, and debris removal – helping to unlock a market which could be worth £2.7 billion by 2031. 

All of this is made possible by the RIO's holistic offer of support to regulators and Britain's most cutting-edge businesses, from direct engagement with firms, to work building regulators' capabilities, through to directly funding new approaches to innovation - just like the projects getting funding today. 

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: 

Every day across the country new products are being invented that have the potential to transform lives and revolutionise public services.

But all too often, we are held back from taking advantage of them by red tape that simply hasn't kept pace with the scientific and technological advances.

That's why we're backing our regulators to work together with industry, to make the rules fit for purpose, and unlock breakthroughs that will deliver national renewal by driving our economy forwards faster, easier, and safely.

Chaired by Lord Willetts, the RIO is on a mission to cut red tape which unnecessarily impedes on new technologies coming to market and stunts growth, instead pivoting to a streamlined and pro-innovation environment which allows people across the UK to reap the positive impact of new tech safely and sooner.  

A new report published sets out the transformative impact the RIO has had in its first 12 months. Besides work on seizing the opportunities of engineering biology, space, AI and digital in healthcare, the last year has seen the RIO launch work to cut red tape for the UK's world-leading financial services sector.  The report also sets out ambitious future priorities for the RIO – looking to unleash the potential of regulatory reform in healthcare in particular, where novel biotherapeutics could be gamechangers for public health, and putting AI to work to speed up the safe approval of clinical trials. 

Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office, Lord Willetts, said: 

The UK's future prosperity depends on harnessing innovation. The Regulators' Pioneer Fund is a powerful catalyst, enabling our regulators to work with industry and researchers to bring high potential technologies to market more swiftly and safely. 

The RIO's collaborative approach as set out in our One-Year On report is creating a pro-innovation environment where British ingenuity can flourish, delivering real benefits for our economy and society.

The report also sets out how the RIO will support further work using drones in new settings, as well as setting out how industry can engage directly with the RIO team. A direct route for innovators working in the RIO's priority areas is being set up to help them engage with the Office, while the RIO is also partnering with organisations like the CBI, Tech UK and the Start Up Coalition so that issues with regulation can be flagged to the office sooner. The RIO is also launching a partnership with IBM to deliver an AI ‘hackathon' in Spring 2026, and will continue to work to develop a support service, to help our homegrown innovators to succeed and scale across the UK. 

The Regulators' Pioneer Fund supports regulators to trial new, more efficient ways of working that allow businesses to bring their innovations to market faster, in turn supporting the economic growth mission at the centre of our Plan for Change. The fourth round of funding being announced today builds on its previous phase, which supported 24 pioneering projects across the country unlocking new opportunities in sectors like health, transport, and energy.  

All projects receive tailored support from the Regulatory Innovation Office, which helps regulators coordinate efforts and safely trial new approaches.  

An independent evaluation by the National Centre for Social Research found that a previous round of the Fund helped trial new approaches that would not have happened otherwise, embedding innovation more deeply within their organisations. It also strengthened collaboration between regulators and industry, laying the groundwork for more open, responsive regulation in the future.  

Support for the Regulatory Innovation Office 

Naomi Weir, CBI Technology and Innovation Director, said:

The UK's strength lies in its capacity to innovate, and turning that strength into growth means ensuring regulation enables, rather than holds back, new ideas. As the UK looks to reform the wider regulatory landscape, the Regulatory Innovation Office has a critical role to play. Good regulation doesn't just manage risk, it enables investment, builds trust, and helps new technologies reach the market faster, delivering better outcomes for consumers and society.

Businesses have valued engagement with the Regulatory Innovation Office in its first year and welcome its renewed focus on addressing some system-wide issues alongside targeted technology areas. The CBI looks forward to partnering with RIO in its next phase to give businesses a clear avenue to raise regulatory issues affecting the development and deployment of innovative technologies, products and services. Together, we can help shape a system that supports innovation, competitiveness and kickstarts growth.

Dr Ben Glocker, Knowledge Transfer Lead, at the Causality in Healthcare AI Hub, said: 

Meeting with RIO was an excellent opportunity to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and real-world regulatory needs. RIO's commitment to fostering collaboration among hubs, industry, and regulators is essential; it's precisely what we need to ensure the safe and ethical deployment of medical imaging AI in the UK and globally.

Dan O'Connor, Director of Regulatory and Early Access Policy at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: 

We support the Regulatory Innovation Office's mission to simplify the regulatory landscape by streamlining processes that can lead to enhanced research and development opportunities and benefit patients in accessing new treatments at pace. We look forward to continuing our partnership with government and regulators to make the UK the best place in the world to research, develop, and deliver innovative medicines.

Craig Whittall, Policy and Programme Manager, Imperial Policy Forum, said: 

It has been a pleasure to work with RIO over the course of their inaugural year. They have been consistent and clear in their strategic direction, giving teams like ours a reliable demand-signal for where our research can prove most useful. I have found RIO to be open and responsive in their engagement with us. RIO's understanding of the importance of a pro-innovation regulatory environment to enable to pull-through of transformative new technologies into the wider economy is already identifying and challenging roadblocks to the UK's scientific progress.

Amita Randhawa, Director of Advocacy at CPI, said: 

The RIO's commitment to developing innovation sandboxes - not only in digital health but also in transformative fields like engineering biology - is a vital step towards building agile, world-leading regulatory pathways. These efforts are instrumental in enabling breakthrough technologies to reach people faster and more safely, while also helping to break down barriers to innovation and strengthen the UK's position as a global innovation powerhouse.

Alec Jackson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Apian, said: 

The Regulatory Innovation Office has shown how industry and government can deliver together. RIO's work with the Civil Aviation Authority to prioritise streamlining airspace changes and the SORA authorisation process will accelerate sustainable commercial drone delivery, unlocking growth and enabling Apian to provide resilient, on-demand NHS logistics.

Andy Sporson, Founder of Autospray Systems, said: 

RIO helped overcome a significant regulatory obstacle that would have otherwise required years of arduous resolution, resulting in substantial annual losses of approximately £200 million in crop yields for the sector. The RIO's willingness to engage in collaborative partnerships with industry to address challenges exemplifies the progressive approach essential for facilitating and developing this rapidly evolving sector.

Notes to editors

The 16 projects receiving backing.

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

£1 million to pilot AI assistants to help the MHRA's regulatory experts assess clinical trials more efficiently and consistently.  

Land Data

£999,592 to set a new independent framework that will modernise conveyancing searches, as part of efforts to improve the homebuying and selling process  

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

£988,852 to develop an AI tool, to support the age classification of videos streamed on demand.  

Milton Keynes Council

£781,817 to pilot a licensing regime for robots that could clean and de-ice pavements, and support wider work by the Council.  

Council for Licensed Conveyancers

£742,700 to test new trust standards for Smart Property Data, supporting efforts to streamline homebuying and selling  

Northumberland County Council

£725,912 to trial an AI tool to help assess flood risk in planning applications – and support developers to take flood risks fully into account, from the start.  

London Fire Brigade

£535,722 to develop an AI-enabled smartphone app, to help assess fire risks in buildings and give personalised safety advice in real time. 

Argyll and Bute Council

£508,193 to trial new standards for ‘Beyond Visual Line of Sight' drone operations over longer distances than those currently permitted – making deliveries of medicines and post across the islands of Argyll and Bute that could cut delivery times from hours to minutes  

Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority

£503,400 for an online one-stop-shop to help entrepreneurs tackle basic regulatory tasks like company registration and IP protection.  

Care Quality Commission

£488,778 to trial the use of AI note-taking tools in non-clinical settings, to help reduce the workload on health and social care workers.  

Environment Agency

£413,781 to test an AI platform for navigating the regulatory hurdles involved in rolling out low carbon heat networks, quicker and easier  

Glasgow City Council

£348,000 to review, and then develop a handbook on, how to roll out smart sensors for damp detection, care monitoring, and more in social housing.  

Greater London Authority

£294,483 for work looking to make it easier to bring disused underground assets (like cables and pipes) back into use for new use in new infrastructure. 

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

£259,250 to test the safe use of synthetic patient data, to support clinical trials tackling cancer and childhood seizures.  

Information Commissioner's Office

£192,865 for a People's Panel to advise on public expectations for how neurotechnologies should be regulated. Neurotechnologies interface directly with the brain, and could offer hope to people with medical conditions like paralysis.  

North Sea Transition Authority

£107,033 to make offshore sector data more easily accessible, including through an AI chatbot.