Robots: Regulation and Safety — Written Question

Question

Rachel Gilmour

Liberal Democrat — Tiverton and Minehead

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, further to the research and analysis entitled Rapid Technology Assessment: Humanoids, published on 10 March 2025, whether her Department plans to introduce a regulatory framework or minimum safety and cybersecurity standards for consumer-grade humanoid robots.

Answer

Kanishka Narayan

The UK Government are taking robust action to ensure new and existing technologies in the UK are Secure by Design. The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act requires manufacturers, importers and retailers to ensure consumer IoT products meet minimum security requirements. We have also published Codes of Practice for Software, Apps and AI cyber security for companies to follow to support this, and the NCSC provides guidance on other security requirements.

NCSC, as the National Technical Authority for cyber security, is in the process of assessing what if any guidance for robotics manufacturers would be valuable.