Approved Work: Local Area Energy Planning
This POSTnote will consider how effective the process of LAEP is in delivering the necessary energy system changes required at the local level.

Technology and data enabled opportunities are key priorities in the Department for Transport’s Future of Freight Plan. This POSTnote reviews digital technologies that support freight, including their impact on the labour force, potential environmental benefits and technical barriers.
Digital technology in freight (510 KB , PDF)
https://doi.org/10.58248/PN692
Overview:
The freight sector is becoming increasingly reliant on a range of digital technologies to support goods transport, warehousing and logistics. This includes sensors to support inventory management, navigation devices and cloud platforms. Emerging digital technologies are also being explored, including connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), distributed ledger technology and artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can simulate assets and predict maintenance. These technologies could potentially alleviate labour shortages, cut costs, reduce vehicle congestion and enable more transparent supply chains.
Implementing digital technologies to support freight raises several technical and social challenges. Many technologies require better availability of data-sharing infrastructure and sector-wide process standardisation. Furthermore, the development of a legislative framework is still required to guide the introduction of commercial CAVs and enable legal recognition of digital trade documents. The Department for Transport has committed funding to support technologies in freight, including a £7 million Freight Innovation Fund and several funds dedicated to achieving the Government’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions target.
Key messages:
Acknowledgements:
POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer reviewed. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:
*Denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing.
Digital technology in freight (510 KB , PDF)
This POSTnote will consider how effective the process of LAEP is in delivering the necessary energy system changes required at the local level.
This POSTnote will provide an overview of the AI and data science skills landscape in the UK. It will assess availability and demand for these specialist skills and summarise their significance to the economy, individuals and wider society.
Air pollution is the greatest UK environmental public health threat. This POSTnote updates the 2014 POSTnote on ambient air quality (PN 458) and describes air pollutants, their health impacts and measures to mitigate poor air quality.