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Written Question
Disability: Parliamentary Estate
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 3 July (HL Deb col 991), when they will publish a response to the Policy Exchange paper A Culture of Impunity: The ongoing erosion of disabled people's access to Parliament and Westminster, published on 8 June.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government agrees that disabled people should be able to go about their everyday business without being affected by the unlawful and inconsiderate actions of others. It agrees that the issues highlighted in the Policy Exchange paper, including the disruptive actions of protestors and the inconsiderate behaviour of some cyclists and e-scooter riders, can have a disproportionately negative impact on the journeys of disabled people in and around the Westminster area.

However, the Government does not agree that there is a culture of impunity in relation to these issues. Cycling or riding an e-scooter on the pavement is already an offence, and enforcement of this is a matter for the police, who also have powers to deal with protestors who are blocking the pavement or highway. Like all highway authorities, Westminster City Council has the power to remove items including abandoned rental cycles or scooters from the pavement or highway if they are causing an obstruction. Operational decisions on these and other issues are a matter for the police and Westminster City Council.


Written Question
Roads: Accidents
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the STATS19 data published on 19 October on road casualties; and particularly any casualties involving e-scooters.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The STATS19 data on road casualties published on 19 October is summarised in the Department’s Reported Road Casualties Statistics Great Britain 2020 annual report published on 30 September 2021.

E-scooter casualties during 2020 based on data reported to the police are summarised in a separate factsheet published alongside the annual report, which shows that in 2020 there were 460 reported accidents involving e-scooters resulting in 484 casualties, of which 384 were e-scooters users. The majority of casualties involved minor injuries.


Written Question
Highway Code
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the outcome of the consultation on the Review of The Highway Code to improve road safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, when they plan to introduce legislation to confirm the changes to the Highway Code; and whether rules for e-scooters will be included in the upcoming changes to the Highway Code.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The consultation on the proposed changes to The Highway Code closed in October 2020, with nearly 21,000 replies received, and the Government response to the consultation was published in July 2021. Given the feedback received, we will be seeking to introduce all the proposed changes and will lay the revised version of The Highway Code in Parliament shortly.

E-scooters were not part of the consultation on the proposed changes. E-scooter trials are live in 31 areas. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters should be legalised in the future, and how we can ensure their use is as safe as possible. Until we have that evidence we cannot commit to a legislative timetable.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Road Traffic Offences
Friday 2nd July 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) penalties, and (2) suspension of drivers' licences, have been given to e-scooter riders for misuse in (a) designated trial zones, and (b) all other areas.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of motoring offences in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. However, information on the type of vehicle issued with a motoring offence is not collected.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Pilot Schemes
Wednesday 30th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have been had with (1) Local Authorities, (2) disability charities, and (3) Disabled People’s Organisations, to ensure (a) the effective monitoring of e-scooter pilots, (b) the enforcement of the law regarding e-scooter pilots, and (c) the effective protection of disabled and visually impaired pedestrians.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme for the e-scooter trials. We will be publishing reports in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, with a summary of the evidence collected and reviewed so far by our evaluation contractor, Arup.

This will include high level information on the number of trips; average distance and duration; scooter availability; and demographic information about users, from across the trials.

The evaluation is collecting data on accidents and injuries through surveys with e-scooter users and residents living within trial areas, along with an estimation of e-scooter casualties using free text in the STATS19 database. STATS19 is a collection of all road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident.

Outside the trial areas e-scooters are not currently one of the designated vehicle types collected in STATS19, and as such they would be classed as ‘other’ and can only be identified using a free text field in the STATS19 database.

Data for 2020 are currently being collated and validated. Subject to the data recorded in the free text field being of sufficient quality, the Department intends to publish data on e-scooters and other vehicle types, which can be reliably identified from the free text field alongside the publication of the annual publication of the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain in September 2021.

The Department is not collecting data on the number of e-scooters sold.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter, however under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled. The regulations ban commercial practices through which omissions and actions cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to make a decision they would otherwise not make, for example, to purchase goods or a service that they would otherwise not have purchased. The CPRs carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on ensuring responsible business practices. However, in December 2018 Ministers from this Department wrote to micromobility retailers to remind them of the law regarding the sale of e-scooters and we are planning to do so again shortly. It is in everyone’s interest that consumers can make properly informed decisions when buying these products.

The vehicle special orders (VSOs) issued to allow the trials to take place, contain the maximum number of e-scooters that are allowed in a trial area. This number is set by the local authority and the e-scooter operator, taking into account local circumstances, and is authorised by the Department. We collect monthly sit-rep reports from the local authorities in the trial areas and these include the size of the current fleet. We do not hold, nor are we collecting, any data on the number of e-scooters in use outside trial areas.

Since July 2020 we have held four e-scooter roundtable meetings with groups representing the interests of disabled people, including those with sight loss. The most recent roundtable was held on 7 June 2021, where three local areas involved in the trials, gave presentations on what they are doing to address the concerns of disabled people in trial areas.

We have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with these groups in their local areas to ensure their concerns are being heard and, where possible, mitigated. Following our consultation last year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. The Department’s guidance for trial areas is also clear that there needs to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas; where a dockless operating model is being used, local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to other road users and pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme and we have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.

There are offences and penalties for using an e-scooter illegally. Users can be fined up to £300, have 6 points put on their driving licence, and the e-scooter can be impounded. We are speaking with the police about enforcement during trials, and local authorities are speaking to police forces in their areas.


Written Question
Electric Scooters
Wednesday 30th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they (1) hold, and (2) are collecting, on the number of e-scooters that are in use in (a) designated pilot areas, and (b) other areas.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme for the e-scooter trials. We will be publishing reports in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, with a summary of the evidence collected and reviewed so far by our evaluation contractor, Arup.

This will include high level information on the number of trips; average distance and duration; scooter availability; and demographic information about users, from across the trials.

The evaluation is collecting data on accidents and injuries through surveys with e-scooter users and residents living within trial areas, along with an estimation of e-scooter casualties using free text in the STATS19 database. STATS19 is a collection of all road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident.

Outside the trial areas e-scooters are not currently one of the designated vehicle types collected in STATS19, and as such they would be classed as ‘other’ and can only be identified using a free text field in the STATS19 database.

Data for 2020 are currently being collated and validated. Subject to the data recorded in the free text field being of sufficient quality, the Department intends to publish data on e-scooters and other vehicle types, which can be reliably identified from the free text field alongside the publication of the annual publication of the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain in September 2021.

The Department is not collecting data on the number of e-scooters sold.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter, however under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled. The regulations ban commercial practices through which omissions and actions cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to make a decision they would otherwise not make, for example, to purchase goods or a service that they would otherwise not have purchased. The CPRs carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on ensuring responsible business practices. However, in December 2018 Ministers from this Department wrote to micromobility retailers to remind them of the law regarding the sale of e-scooters and we are planning to do so again shortly. It is in everyone’s interest that consumers can make properly informed decisions when buying these products.

The vehicle special orders (VSOs) issued to allow the trials to take place, contain the maximum number of e-scooters that are allowed in a trial area. This number is set by the local authority and the e-scooter operator, taking into account local circumstances, and is authorised by the Department. We collect monthly sit-rep reports from the local authorities in the trial areas and these include the size of the current fleet. We do not hold, nor are we collecting, any data on the number of e-scooters in use outside trial areas.

Since July 2020 we have held four e-scooter roundtable meetings with groups representing the interests of disabled people, including those with sight loss. The most recent roundtable was held on 7 June 2021, where three local areas involved in the trials, gave presentations on what they are doing to address the concerns of disabled people in trial areas.

We have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with these groups in their local areas to ensure their concerns are being heard and, where possible, mitigated. Following our consultation last year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. The Department’s guidance for trial areas is also clear that there needs to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas; where a dockless operating model is being used, local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to other road users and pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme and we have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.

There are offences and penalties for using an e-scooter illegally. Users can be fined up to £300, have 6 points put on their driving licence, and the e-scooter can be impounded. We are speaking with the police about enforcement during trials, and local authorities are speaking to police forces in their areas.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Hire Services and Sales
Wednesday 30th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they (1) hold, and (2) are collecting, on the number of e-scooters that have been (a) sold, and (b) rented, in the UK in (i) designated pilot areas, and (ii) other areas.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme for the e-scooter trials. We will be publishing reports in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, with a summary of the evidence collected and reviewed so far by our evaluation contractor, Arup.

This will include high level information on the number of trips; average distance and duration; scooter availability; and demographic information about users, from across the trials.

The evaluation is collecting data on accidents and injuries through surveys with e-scooter users and residents living within trial areas, along with an estimation of e-scooter casualties using free text in the STATS19 database. STATS19 is a collection of all road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident.

Outside the trial areas e-scooters are not currently one of the designated vehicle types collected in STATS19, and as such they would be classed as ‘other’ and can only be identified using a free text field in the STATS19 database.

Data for 2020 are currently being collated and validated. Subject to the data recorded in the free text field being of sufficient quality, the Department intends to publish data on e-scooters and other vehicle types, which can be reliably identified from the free text field alongside the publication of the annual publication of the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain in September 2021.

The Department is not collecting data on the number of e-scooters sold.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter, however under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled. The regulations ban commercial practices through which omissions and actions cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to make a decision they would otherwise not make, for example, to purchase goods or a service that they would otherwise not have purchased. The CPRs carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on ensuring responsible business practices. However, in December 2018 Ministers from this Department wrote to micromobility retailers to remind them of the law regarding the sale of e-scooters and we are planning to do so again shortly. It is in everyone’s interest that consumers can make properly informed decisions when buying these products.

The vehicle special orders (VSOs) issued to allow the trials to take place, contain the maximum number of e-scooters that are allowed in a trial area. This number is set by the local authority and the e-scooter operator, taking into account local circumstances, and is authorised by the Department. We collect monthly sit-rep reports from the local authorities in the trial areas and these include the size of the current fleet. We do not hold, nor are we collecting, any data on the number of e-scooters in use outside trial areas.

Since July 2020 we have held four e-scooter roundtable meetings with groups representing the interests of disabled people, including those with sight loss. The most recent roundtable was held on 7 June 2021, where three local areas involved in the trials, gave presentations on what they are doing to address the concerns of disabled people in trial areas.

We have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with these groups in their local areas to ensure their concerns are being heard and, where possible, mitigated. Following our consultation last year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. The Department’s guidance for trial areas is also clear that there needs to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas; where a dockless operating model is being used, local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to other road users and pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme and we have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.

There are offences and penalties for using an e-scooter illegally. Users can be fined up to £300, have 6 points put on their driving licence, and the e-scooter can be impounded. We are speaking with the police about enforcement during trials, and local authorities are speaking to police forces in their areas.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Accidents and Injuries
Wednesday 30th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they (1) hold, and (2) are collecting, on the number of pedestrian injuries as a result of e-scooter use in (a) designated trial zones, and (b) other areas.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme for the e-scooter trials. We will be publishing reports in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, with a summary of the evidence collected and reviewed so far by our evaluation contractor, Arup.

This will include high level information on the number of trips; average distance and duration; scooter availability; and demographic information about users, from across the trials.

The evaluation is collecting data on accidents and injuries through surveys with e-scooter users and residents living within trial areas, along with an estimation of e-scooter casualties using free text in the STATS19 database. STATS19 is a collection of all road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident.

Outside the trial areas e-scooters are not currently one of the designated vehicle types collected in STATS19, and as such they would be classed as ‘other’ and can only be identified using a free text field in the STATS19 database.

Data for 2020 are currently being collated and validated. Subject to the data recorded in the free text field being of sufficient quality, the Department intends to publish data on e-scooters and other vehicle types, which can be reliably identified from the free text field alongside the publication of the annual publication of the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain in September 2021.

The Department is not collecting data on the number of e-scooters sold.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter, however under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled. The regulations ban commercial practices through which omissions and actions cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to make a decision they would otherwise not make, for example, to purchase goods or a service that they would otherwise not have purchased. The CPRs carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on ensuring responsible business practices. However, in December 2018 Ministers from this Department wrote to micromobility retailers to remind them of the law regarding the sale of e-scooters and we are planning to do so again shortly. It is in everyone’s interest that consumers can make properly informed decisions when buying these products.

The vehicle special orders (VSOs) issued to allow the trials to take place, contain the maximum number of e-scooters that are allowed in a trial area. This number is set by the local authority and the e-scooter operator, taking into account local circumstances, and is authorised by the Department. We collect monthly sit-rep reports from the local authorities in the trial areas and these include the size of the current fleet. We do not hold, nor are we collecting, any data on the number of e-scooters in use outside trial areas.

Since July 2020 we have held four e-scooter roundtable meetings with groups representing the interests of disabled people, including those with sight loss. The most recent roundtable was held on 7 June 2021, where three local areas involved in the trials, gave presentations on what they are doing to address the concerns of disabled people in trial areas.

We have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with these groups in their local areas to ensure their concerns are being heard and, where possible, mitigated. Following our consultation last year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. The Department’s guidance for trial areas is also clear that there needs to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas; where a dockless operating model is being used, local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to other road users and pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme and we have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.

There are offences and penalties for using an e-scooter illegally. Users can be fined up to £300, have 6 points put on their driving licence, and the e-scooter can be impounded. We are speaking with the police about enforcement during trials, and local authorities are speaking to police forces in their areas.


Written Question
Electric Scooters: Accidents and Injuries
Wednesday 30th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they (1) hold, and (2) are collecting, on the number of (a) accidents, and (b) injuries, resulting from the use of e-scooters in (i) designated trial zones, and (ii) other areas.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department has in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme for the e-scooter trials. We will be publishing reports in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, with a summary of the evidence collected and reviewed so far by our evaluation contractor, Arup.

This will include high level information on the number of trips; average distance and duration; scooter availability; and demographic information about users, from across the trials.

The evaluation is collecting data on accidents and injuries through surveys with e-scooter users and residents living within trial areas, along with an estimation of e-scooter casualties using free text in the STATS19 database. STATS19 is a collection of all road traffic accidents that resulted in a personal injury and were reported to the police within 30 days of the accident.

Outside the trial areas e-scooters are not currently one of the designated vehicle types collected in STATS19, and as such they would be classed as ‘other’ and can only be identified using a free text field in the STATS19 database.

Data for 2020 are currently being collated and validated. Subject to the data recorded in the free text field being of sufficient quality, the Department intends to publish data on e-scooters and other vehicle types, which can be reliably identified from the free text field alongside the publication of the annual publication of the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain in September 2021.

The Department is not collecting data on the number of e-scooters sold.

It is not illegal to sell an e-scooter, however under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 there is a general obligation for traders to give consumers sufficient information about goods and services at the point of sale, so consumers are not misled. The regulations ban commercial practices through which omissions and actions cause, or are likely to cause, the average consumer to make a decision they would otherwise not make, for example, to purchase goods or a service that they would otherwise not have purchased. The CPRs carry criminal penalties and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) leads on ensuring responsible business practices. However, in December 2018 Ministers from this Department wrote to micromobility retailers to remind them of the law regarding the sale of e-scooters and we are planning to do so again shortly. It is in everyone’s interest that consumers can make properly informed decisions when buying these products.

The vehicle special orders (VSOs) issued to allow the trials to take place, contain the maximum number of e-scooters that are allowed in a trial area. This number is set by the local authority and the e-scooter operator, taking into account local circumstances, and is authorised by the Department. We collect monthly sit-rep reports from the local authorities in the trial areas and these include the size of the current fleet. We do not hold, nor are we collecting, any data on the number of e-scooters in use outside trial areas.

Since July 2020 we have held four e-scooter roundtable meetings with groups representing the interests of disabled people, including those with sight loss. The most recent roundtable was held on 7 June 2021, where three local areas involved in the trials, gave presentations on what they are doing to address the concerns of disabled people in trial areas.

We have instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage throughout the trial period with these groups in their local areas to ensure their concerns are being heard and, where possible, mitigated. Following our consultation last year, and feedback from subsequent stakeholder activities, we have required all e-scooters used in trials to have a horn or bell so that users can make others aware of their presence. The Department’s guidance for trial areas is also clear that there needs to be sufficient parking provision in trial areas; where a dockless operating model is being used, local authorities should ensure that e-scooters do not become obstructive to other road users and pedestrians, particularly those with disabilities.

The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme and we have also made additional commitments such as allowing vulnerable road user groups to take part in the evaluation process.

There are offences and penalties for using an e-scooter illegally. Users can be fined up to £300, have 6 points put on their driving licence, and the e-scooter can be impounded. We are speaking with the police about enforcement during trials, and local authorities are speaking to police forces in their areas.


Written Question
Railway Stations: Access
Friday 23rd October 2020

Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether social value requirements were (1) considered, and (2) taken into account, when awarding contracts for the Access for All programme; and if so, (a) what weighting was given to social value in each stage of the procurement process, and (b) what are the details of the social value that successful bidding organisations reported that they could add.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Access for All Programme prioritised the busiest stations first and took into account factors such as the incidence of disability in the area, proximity to a hospital, and stations that have high numbers of interchange passengers. A proportion of the funding was also set aside for smaller projects such as customer information systems which promote confidence to travel. This is how we recognise that improved accessibility has benefits that are hard to quantify and are therefore not explicitly reported in terms of social value.