50 organisations urged government to set a date for e-scooter legislation

More than 50 organisations, including six local authorities, have signed a letter forcing the government to accelerate e-scooter legalisation.

Last week, CoMoUK, a cross-industry group which brings together public, private and third sector organisations to support shared transport, has called on the UK government to speed up the legislation of e-scooters.

In a letter, which was sent on behalf of the group, over 50 organisations including, councils, micromobility operators, environmental charities, and retailers, have urged Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to create a new powered light vehicle class which would legalise the devices.

As it stands, rental e-scooters are only available through government trials in around 23 towns and cities in England, with the letter warning that the UK is at-risk of falling behind the rest of Europe. In addition, private e-scooters have been banned from being used on main roads.

Richard Dilks, chief executive of CoMoUK, said: ‘The evidence from the trials is that e-scooters are incredibly popular, with huge demand from users, and the UK has been left as an international outlet by not introducing permanent legality.

‘To address the crisis levels of transport emissions in the UK and help people save money amid the cost-of-living crisis, the government can’t delay any further.’

In addition to this news, last week it was reported that the pace of EV charger installation by councils was a ‘real concern’.

According to law firm RPC, poor investment at a local and government level means private instalment will be required to meet a target to install 300,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charges by 2030.

Research by RPC found around 8,000 EV chargers were installed by local authorities in the UK over the past year. The firm has warned that the current pace of roll-out is too slow to meet the countries target.

Elizabeth Alibhai, partner and head of real-estate at RPC, said: ‘The slow pace of EV installations by local authorities is a real concern.’

Ms Alibhai argued that legislation may be needed to speed up roll-out, pointing out ‘there is currently no specific duty on local authorities to deliver’.

Against this backdrop, research also revealed significant variation in the pace of installation across the UK. Merton Council, for example, reported the installation of 530 EV charging stations in 2022/23, while local authorities in Crawley, Dudley, Barking and Dagenham, Norwich and Wandsworth said they did not install any.

Image: Fabrizio Ortis