Transport – in the House of Commons at on 22 October 2020.
Mark Pawsey
Conservative, Rugby
What progress his Department has made in trialling e-scooters.
Rachel Maclean
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have started trials of this innovative new mode of transport, the e-scooter, in 15 areas of the country, with more to start soon. We are thoroughly gathering data on journeys. A lot of very positive feedback is already coming through and we are assessing the wider impacts.
Mark Pawsey
Conservative, Rugby
My constituent Mark Rawinski recently bought an e-scooter, and he has been telling me that it is far more affordable than a car or a motorcycle and drawing my attention to how much better it is for the environment. There is a strong case that e-scooters should be classified as personal electric vehicles, in the same way as electric bikes are, as they have similar power and speed. Does the Minister agree?
Rachel Maclean
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am absolutely delighted to hear of the support of my hon. Friend’s constituent for this new, clean, green, convenient and, as he said, much more environmentally friendly mode of transport. We do support active travel and active transport, which is why we are trialling e-scooters and gathering the evidence. The evidence that we gather will inform the decisions that we make about whether to legalise e-scooters in the future. Until then, it is important to say that privately owned e-scooters should not be used on the public roads.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
