Politics

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Press release: RACE DRIVEN to support driverless cars

RACE – UKAEA’s state of the art robotics technology centre at Culham Science Centre – is to consolidate its position as a test site for driverless cars as a number of major investments in this area were announced today.

These projects will play a key role in putting the first driverless cars on public roads in the coming years. Most notable is the DRIVEN consortium* led by award-winning driverless car developers Oxbotica and including RACE. DRIVEN has received over £8m in funding from the Government’s CCAV (Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) £13m investment in this area. This will go towards developing and operating a fleet of vehicles to operate on public roads, with complete autonomy, within the next two and half years. The project will culminate with these vehicles travelling autonomously from London to Oxford (with safety drivers on board as a precaution) – as a public demonstration of the viability of this technology.

RACE will play a key role in the project. Oxbotica’s main field test activities are conducted from their base in the RACE building, and they make use of the 10 kilometres of roads, junctions, roundabouts (even traffic lights and pedestrian crossings) within the closed Culham site; a perfect ‘test track’ for these vehicles to test their ability to monitor and react to other vehicles, cyclists and people in realistic circumstances, whatever the weather. This latest funding comes amid strong support for the whole robotics and artificial intelligence community. ‘Cutting edge artificial intelligence and robotics systems that will operate in extreme and hazardous environments’ will benefit from a £270m Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund announced in the 2017 Spring Budget, and a recent House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report recommended the route ahead to harness the huge potential of connected and autonomous vehicles.

RACE Director Rob Buckingham said:

RACE has been working with Oxbotica for some time now. The DRIVEN team brings together the right combination of interests and enthusiasm to change the conversation in this exciting field from mostly speculation to real world detail. DRIVEN will show how autonomous vehicles will change the world, both for the public and industrial users.

DRIVEN is important because it will answer questions around cyber security and insurance as well as the underlying technology. RACE has a key supporting role: enabling testing on the Culham Science Centre site before we venture on the public roads. DRIVEN reinforces our aspiration to enable connected and autonomous vehicles to be widely adopted. Starting in Oxfordshire we are already thinking about how autonomous vehicles fit within a modern transport plans for both Oxford and Didcot Garden Town. DRIVEN is a very important step on this journey.

*The DRIVEN consortium is led by Oxbotica Ltd.; the other partners in the project are the Oxford Robotics Institute, insurer XL Catlin, Nominet, Telefonica, the Transport Research Laboratory, UKAEAs RACE facility, Oxfordshire County Council, Transport for London and Westbourne Communications.

For more information please contact Nick Holloway, UKAEA Media Manager, on 01235 466232 or email nick.holloway@ukaea.uk

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HM Government

While the Conservatives shirk responsibility, Labour will deal with the dirty air damaging the lives of millions of British people – Hayman

Sue Hayman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ahead of the High Court consideration of the government’s request to further delay publication of their air quality plan, said:

“If the government fails to publish its plan to deal with the chronic levels of air pollution today then Labour will, within the first 30 days of our administration.

“Labour will bring forward a new Clean Air Act, setting out how we would tackle air pollution that NHS experts say contributes to 40,000 premature deaths every year. 

“With nearly 40 million people in the UK living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, it is simply not acceptable for ministers to hide behind the general election to delay publishing plans to improve air quality.

“Purdah rules exist to stop one party using the machinery of government for their  electoral advantage, not to be used as an excuse to delay acting on vital public health matters. We trust that the court will recognise this.

“While the Conservatives shirk responsibility, Labour will deal with the dirty air damaging the lives of millions of British people.”

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Labour •

EU student funding guarantee for Welsh universities announced

EU nationals who are currently in receipt of student loans from Student Finance Wales and those EU nationals who intend to begin studying in the academic year 2018/19 will be eligible for support from loans and grants.

EU students should consult their university’s student finance office, or the Student Finance Wales website, for information about the support available.

Kirsty Williams said,

“Wales has an internationally renowned higher education sector and it is vital that we continue to attract bright students from around the world to study and research at our universities.

“This decision not only provides welcome certainty for our universities and colleges regarding future funding, but also assures prospective EU students they will not have the terms of their funding changed if the UK leaves the EU during their studies.

“Our universities are central to our social and economic future, which value and celebrate their links with Europe, and thrive through the diversity of the people who come to them.  

“We are determined to protect Wales’ reputation as a friendly and tolerant place to study and carry out world-class research. Whatever the long-term implication of the referendum result, we remain an outward looking and welcoming nation where we are committed to sharing knowledge across national borders.”

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Welsh Government •

Statement to Parliament: Sky / Fox Merger

Update Regarding Proposed Merger of 21st Century Fox and Sky: Written statement – HCWS610

On Thursday 16 March I intervened in the proposed acquisition of Sky by 21 Century Fox on the media public interest grounds of media plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards by issuing a European Intervention Notice (EIN).

The EIN triggered the requirement for Ofcom to assess and report to me on the public interest grounds specified and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to report to me on jurisdiction. I required Ofcom and the CMA to provide their reports to me in response to the EIN by Tuesday 16 May. Once I receive these reports, my decision-making role in this process would resume.

Given the proximity of this decision to the forthcoming general election and following discussions with the parties, Ofcom, the CMA and the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics team I wrote to Ofcom and the CMA on Friday 21 April to extend the period by which these reports should be submitted to Tuesday 20 June.

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HM Government