Grant Shapps pledges to crack down on illegal e-scooter sales

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised to “crack down” on illegal e-scooter sales in England.

He told MPs on the Commons Transport Committee approved models could be then licensed for use on public roads.

New legislation for England could be introduced in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May, Mr Shapps said.

E-scooters are widely sold and seen in towns and cities, but are currently only legal for use on private land.

“I want to crack down on the private market and make it illegal to sell e-scooters which don’t meet the regulatory standards which we will bring in,” he told MPs.

E-scooters are currently only legal for use on the roads if they are hired as part of government trials, which have safety features such as speed limits of 15.5mph and automatic lights.

More than 30 areas - including London, Newcastle, Bristol and Bournemouth - are already operating rental trial schemes.

Government figures show that there were 931 casualties involving e-scooters in the year to June 2021, and three fatalities.

None of the fatalities involved official trials, Mr Shapps said.

Mr Shapps also hinted that e-scooters which do meet government standards could soon be legalised for use on public roads in England.

“We will take powers to properly regulate and then be able to decide the usage of them,” he said.

There are no standards for e-scooters at the moment because they are not legally recognised as a form of transport, he pointed out.

“The first thing to do is to set standards. How powerful can they be, how fast do they go, do they have indicators, do they have lights at night and so on," he said.

“And the second thing to do is to hold the retailers accountable. You can make it an offence to sell one which doesn’t fit within the law.”

“If you go to any other country in the world… you’ll see that they are being used very regularly. You can’t uninvent technology,” Mr Shapps added.

Edmund King, president of the AA motoring group, said the government was right to bring in regulations "rather than allowing some of our cities to be over-run like the Wild West with illegal scooters".

"Micro-mobility and e-technology can have a positive effect on movement in our cities but we must ensure that movement is safe," he said.