Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reports of incidents involving (a) e-bike batteries and (b) conversion kits on consumer trust in e-bike technology.

While e-bikes and e-scooters are used safely by millions of people every day, unsafe, non-compliant or improperly used lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes can cause serious fires. Public safety is our priority, and this Department’s recent “Buy Safe. Be Safe” campaign was launched last month to raise awareness of the steps consumers can take to reduce the risk of fires. This is part of a wider programme lead by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to tackle the causes of fires so that consumers are protected and can have confidence in these technologies.