Helen Maguire

I thank everyone who has attended this incredibly important debate for their contributions, and I want to highlight a few of them. The hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) spoke about her constituent Sofia Duarte, who sadly died following a fire; my heart goes out to her and her family. The right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) talked about bringing Departments together. That is critical, because this is a cross-departmental issue and Governments are usually not very good at working across Departments. I hope the Minister takes that on board so that we can find some solutions. My hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) talked about impunity for employers in the gig economy. It is vital that we resolve that. My hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) spoke about some interesting measures in New South Wales and New York. It is really important that we look at what is being done abroad and what has been successful in other places. The hon. Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) said that the popularity of e-bikes is depressing the sale of legal motorbikes. That has a consequence for the Treasury, because there is less income as a result, which is incredibly important. My hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) spoke about the blatant ignorance of individuals who are not paying road tax and are flouting the rules. Again, that has an impact on the Treasury. The hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) spoke about intimidating behaviour, which I am sure many Members across the House have seen. We need stronger powers for the police, as many Members said, so that they can not only enforce on the streets and roads but identify what is legal and what is not. We need there to be point-of-sale responsibility, which is not happening at the moment. We also need a decision about the trials. I welcome the Minister saying that he will bring people together and that there will be legislation at some point, but we need a timeframe; we cannot have this trial going on for another two years. We need action and we need decisions. We need to end the current confusion about what is legal and what is not, because retailers do not have to provide information about that when people make a purchase. Fundamentally, we need to make our streets and parks safe again for our constituents. I hope the Minister will take away all the contributions been made today. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes.