Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 55226 on Electric Bicycles: Road Traffic Offences, what data her Department has collected on the prevalence of illegally modified e-bikes on public highways.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has a market surveillance unit which inspects vehicles and equipment to ensure they meet safety and environmental standards.

In 2024 the DVSA identified 39 suppliers of e-cycles and 21 of these were found to be selling e-cycles that were compliant with regulations.

Subsequent “mystery shopper” exercises, carried out by the DVSA and involving 18 suppliers, found 2 suppliers to be selling non-compliant e-cycles for use on the roads. One of these suppliers has since brought their selling practices into compliance, while the other is being investigated further. In addition, over 400 listings of non-compliant e-cycles have been removed from online marketplaces following intervention by the DVSA.

The police also have the powers to seize non-complaint e-cycles being used on the public roads. Some police forces have published statistics in relation to this, but this information is not collated centrally by the Government.