Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to implement third-party certification to ensure e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries are approved by an independent body before being available for sale.

The Government takes consumer protection very seriously and is concerned about the frequency of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries found in e-bikes and e-scooters. Products must be safe before being placed on the UK market.

Working across Government we are taking action against unsafe products and have issued guidance on the safe use of these products. We are also seeking to better understand the root causes of these incidents and have commissioned research from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (part of Warwick University).

This research will help inform the position moving forward including the interaction between batteries and chargers, and the suitability of third-party conformity assessment to tackle this complex issue.