Select committee: Transport Committee

Recommendation 22

Third Report: E-scooters: pavement nuisance or transport innovation? Published 2 Oct 2020 Paragraph 123 Addressed to Department for Transport
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department should closely monitor the environmental impact of e-scooters during the rental trials and, if needed, consider introducing stricter requirements around sustainability.

From: Transport Committee, Third Report: E-scooters: pavement nuisance or transport innovation? (HC 255), paragraph 123, 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".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error