Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 20
Third Report: E-scooters: pavement nuisance or transport innovation?
Published 2 Oct 2020
Paragraph 121
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee E-scooters All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
E-scooters have the potential to improve local air quality and help meet the Government’s carbon emission targets, particularly if they replace car journeys. However, we note there are valid environmental concerns relating to the lifetime of the scooters and the processes used to charge their batteries. It is encouraging that e-scooter companies are making improvements to these processes as technology develops.
From: Transport Committee, Third Report: E-scooters: pavement nuisance or transport innovation? (HC 255), paragraph 121, 2 October 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 December 2020 (deadline 2 December 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the report and says evidence from the time-limited trials, running until autumn 2021, will inform decisions on whether to proceed with any legislative changes, and if so on what basis.
- On the regulatory framework and driving licences, the government "partly agrees", saying it will understand impacts first and "will consider all the evidence from trials before making any specific decisions" on licence requirements, should e-scooters be legalised.
- On pavement riding, it agrees and says it "is considering a range of options to monitor its extent"; if legalised, "pavement use would remain prohibited".
- On environmental impact, it "partly agrees", noting that setting local sustainability objectives "was not a condition set by the Government", but agrees that environmental impacts be monitored.
- It agrees to publish the central evaluation framework for the rental trials, saying that "Once finalised it will be made publicly available".