Ms Julie Minns

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) on securing this important debate. I will confine my remarks to e-bikes. Let me begin by emphasising that legal e-bikes have an important role to play in sustainable transport and active travel, but vehicles that do not meet the definition of an electrically assisted pedal cycle and are used on the highway are illegal road vehicles and should be banned from sale. Earlier this year, I presented a Bill that proposed exactly that. Illegal e-bikes, whether sold as such or converted using kits, pose serious safety risks. They reach speeds for which their frames and braking systems were never designed. They kill pedestrians and endanger other road users. Their batteries catch fire and cause devastating house fires and death. They facilitate criminal activity such as phone theft and drug dealing and they are a persistent nuisance in parks, on pavements and around stations. Their ready availability online also undermines legitimate markets, depressing the sale of legal, tested EAPCs and low-powered motorcycles. Meanwhile, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau settles millions of pounds in claims every single year for accidents involving illegal bikes, and the cost is borne by law-abiding motorists through higher premiums. The Government must act with urgency to tackle this problem. They have the means to do so: the Product Regulation and Metrology Act gives Ministers powers to designate products that are unsafe and regulate to remove them from sale. What discussions has the Minister had with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade about using those powers? Does he agree that the continued availability of illegal e-bikes is undermining confidence in legitimate cycling and risks tarnishing the cycling celebration that is the Tour de France when it comes to Britain—and, more importantly, my constituency—next year?