Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing stronger regulation for e-bikes, including full registration and insurance requirements.

The Government has no intention of requiring cyclists, including those who ride Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles, to be registered or to have insurance. This would require a national registration scheme for all cycles which would be complex and expensive to design and administer. It would also be likely to lead to a reduction in the number of people cycling, which would have negative health and environmental consequences. The Government believes that insurance for cycling should remain a matter of personal choice. Cyclists who are not insured are liable for the consequences of their actions should these result in injury or damages to others.

Those who ride e-mopeds, or forms of e-cycle that do not comply in full with the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983, are already required to have insurance and licence plates. Enforcement of these rules is a matter for the police, who have the power to seize illegal e-cycles and to fine individuals who fail to stop when instructed to do so.