Helen Maguire

I beg to move, That this House has considered the regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I am pleased to have secured this debate and really grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue, which we urgently need to see progress on. This is a timely debate because I hosted a roundtable on this very topic last week. Twenty-five individuals attended. There were senior-ranking representatives from nine police forces across the country, five police and crime commissioners, one borough commander and one assistant chief constable. The officers who were present were from the Met, Derbyshire, Merseyside, Surrey, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, and Devon and Cornwall. There were industry representatives, campaigners, policy experts, academics, doctors and MPs. I am thankful to all those who attended and shared their insights and expertise with me and the other MPs who were there. The fact that so many individuals representing diverse groups and interests travelled across the UK to London to speak about this issue highlights the urgency and the need for action. How did this issue become so important to me? It all started when I was canvassing to become an MP, and I met so many constituents who raised the issue of e-scooters and e-bikes in my constituency of Epsom and Ewell. It became a top issue. One of my constituents, Ed Dark, told me that his little boy is now too scared to go to the beautiful park that is next to his house.