UK government launches the Regulatory Innovation Office

In its election manifesto, Labour committed to creating a new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) to help "update regulation, speed up approval timelines, and co-ordinate issues that span existing boundaries." Now in government, it has launched the new body RIO.

The primary aim of the new body is to support regulators in bringing innovative products and services to market more swiftly by removing regulatory barriers. This is expected to reduce burdens on businesses, with the aim of positioning the UK at the forefront of innovation and attracting investment.

The government has outlined four initial focus areas for the RIO, providing businesses in these sectors with an insight into how the regulatory landscape may change in the near future.

Engineering biology

Synthetic biology and biotechnology can create new products and services that support sustainability and provide health benefits. Examples include new vaccines, cleaner fuels and cultivated meat. The RIO is intended to help regulators bring such products to market safely and more quickly and builds on the 2023 "National vision for engineering biology" policy paper.

With respect to cultivated meats, alongside the announcement of the RIO, the government also announced that a £1.6 million award has been given to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to create a regulatory sandbox for cell-cultivated products (CCPs).

The sandbox will offer pre-application support to CCP companies and answer key questions that must be addressed before they can enter the market; for example, around labelling. It will allow businesses to test new developments under regulatory supervision and, with the RIO facilitating product approval, it will reduce the time and cost of applying for regulatory approval.

The announcement of these initiatives on the same day underscores the government's commitment to bringing innovative foods, such as alternative proteins and novel foods, to market.

AI and digital in healthcare

The government, announcing the launch of the RIO, acknowledged that artificial intelligence (AI) will help to "revolutionise healthcare delivery". In order to realise this, the RIO will help to quickly and safely deploy innovative healthcare products and services.

Separately, the Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched its 2024/25 business plan, which partly focuses on digital technology. One of the MHRA's priorities is to "deliver innovative pathways for access to transformative medicines and medical devices in co-ordination with health technology assessment and health service bodies". The creation of the RIO is timely for the MHRA, as it will support its mission to follow through with harnessing digital technology.

Ahead of the RIO launch, the government also announced a £118 million investment into five new research and partnership hubs to develop new medical technologies, such as AI models that can detect cancer. This investment, alongside the RIO, underlines the government's commitment to advancing technology in the healthcare sector.

These allied developments indicate that technological advancement in life sciences is a government priority. They exemplify how the government intends to boost the UK life sciences sector, intending to make it an attractive environment for businesses to bring their innovative products to market and indicating how improvements can be made to NHS efficiency and patient access to advanced technologies.

Connected and autonomous technology

The RIO will also focus on autonomous vehicles, such as drones, and connected technology. The government recognises the benefits of these technologies – for example, drones capable of delivering emergency supplies to remote locations – but acknowledges the need for regulatory support to enable their broader use. Businesses manufacturing autonomous technologies will welcome this recognition and the regulatory changes that will facilitate product deployment.

The recently enacted Automated Vehicles Act 2024, with its pending regulatory framework, will also benefit from the RIO's involvement in shaping the regulatory landscape in this area. Businesses will need to keep abreast of the development of the regulations for connected and autonomous vehicles.

The space sector

The fourth initial focus area for the RIO is the space sector, which includes innovations to improve weather forecasting and disaster response systems using GPS and communication technologies. The government acknowledges the need for regulatory reform to open market access in the space sector.

Osborne Clarke comment

The government has recognised that its four focus technologies currently "do not fit neatly into existing regulatory frameworks", meaning that change is necessary to more easily bring these products to market.

In principle, the creation of the RIO should be welcomed by businesses in these sectors and beyond, as it signals the government's willingness to enhance regulatory capability in the UK. The new RIO helpfully reflects the "cross-cutting" nature of different forms of these emerging technologies and will bring together regulators to ensure that present obstacles preventing products from reaching the market are removed. However, businesses will hope that the advent of another regulatory body does not create additional bureaucratic barriers to getting products to the market.

Although the RIO has an initial focus on four areas, its establishment demonstrates a broader commitment to amending regulations to benefit businesses and ensuring different regulatory bodies can work together smoothly. The RIO has been established within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and will report to the government on regulatory barriers to innovation and set priorities for regulators to align with the government's broader plans. This will hopefully bring a level of joined up consistency across the regulatory landscape, which is currently missing.

The aim is to give businesses confidence that the UK is a competitive market for investment and underpins the government's national mission for growth. The announcement also comes ahead of the UK hosting the International Investment Summit in October 2024.

The details of the RIO's practical operations are forthcoming, indeed, the government is currently looking to recruit someone to head up the RIO. However, it is a positive step that regulators will now have a 'watchdog' to assist with reforming regulations. But, the success of the RIO will hinge on whether it receives sufficient funding and resources to fulfil its aims. The details of which have yet to be provided.