Driverless cars on our roads by 2021 with budget pledge to spend millions on UK roads

DRIVERLESS cars will be on the roads within three years as part of a multimillion pound plan to help Britain lead a technological revolution post-Brexit.

Driverless cars hit British streets in landmark trial

The Chancellor will on Wednesday outline Budget plans to “turbo-charge” Britain’s tech industries – pumping investment into artificial intelligence, clean fuel technology and next generation 5G phones.

Funding will also go on more computer science teachers and technology skills training.

A source close to Philip Hammond said he wanted to Brexit-proof Britain and ensure the workforce of the future will be able to “enjoy the spoils” of the opportunities ahead.

He is expected to announce £75million for developing artificial intelligence, bold reforms for on-road testing to put driverless cars on Britain’s highways by 2021 and £400 million for electric vehicle charging points.

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Driverless cars could be a common sight on UK roads by 2021

Another £100 million will boost clean car purchases, £160 million will go to nextgeneration 5G mobile networks across the UK, including £35 million to improve connectivity on trains, and £100 million for an additional 8,000 qualifi ed computer science teachers.

A further £76 million will boost digital and construction skills. The Government will change the regulations around driverless vehicles to allow developers to carry out test drives on the nation’s roads without a human operator for the first time in a bid to fasttrack the industry, forecast to be worth £28 billion to the economy by 2035, and support 27,000 jobs.

A new scheme will also be launched enabling organisations to explore ways of testing self-driving technology through digital simulation.

These measures will result in self-driving cars being on UK roads in as little as three years. A Treasury spokesman said the rollout would be subject to “stringent safety measures”.

It comes as Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Motors were last week revealed to have been testing new driverless models on the streets of Coventry.

Eric Schmidt, Google’s global ambassador, last night welcomed the move to triple the number of computer science teachers.

He said: “Advancing our students’ understanding of the principles and practices of computing is critical to developing a competitive workforce for the 21st century.

We need more students to leave school confi dent in skills like coding, algorithmic thinking, machine learning and cyber security.”

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Philip Hammond will outline Budget plans to “turbo-charge” Britain’s tech industries on Wednesday

AI start-up companies will get an extra £20 million while £45 million will be spent increasing the number of new PhD students to 200 per year.

The Government will also establish a formal partnership with the CBI and TUC to oversee a £36 million National Retraining Scheme, to help adults get the skills they need to succeed in the new economy.

A further £40 million will be invested in construction skills.

Mr Hammond is expected to announce a stamp duty cut for first-time buyers and lift the cap on local authority borrowing to boost social housing. Changes to the planning regime are also expected.

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