Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a purchase subsidy for electric bikes for the accessibility of those bikes.

The Government has implemented an £8 million national programme to provide opportunities to try electric cycles through short term loans. Active Travel England is also funding local authority-led cycle loan and share schemes.

The Department considered a range of options to increase e-cycling uptake in 2020-21. This concluded that these initiatives were more cost-effective, and better value for taxpayers’ money, than a purchase subsidy.

In addition, the Government already supports affordable access to cycles, including e-cycles, through the Cycle to Work scheme.