Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment (a) the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and (b) his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the scope of OLEV grants to include support for converting from a conventional car or van to an electronic bike or e-cargo bike.

At the International Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in September, the Government announced that it would provide up to £2 million of support for e-cargo bikes. This followed a call for evidence on how the Government could best harness the opportunities for greener delivery in our towns and cities.

The funding will contribute 20% of the purchase price of new e-cargo bikes up to the first £5,000 of any purchase price. This gives a maximum grant of £1,000 per bike, regardless of the purchase price of the bike. Funding will be conditional on individual businesses following a code of cycle safety good practice and will be split between larger fleets and smaller operators to ensure benefits are available to and spread between all sizes of business. Replacing traditional last mile delivery vehicles with electric delivery bikes can help towards cutting traffic, reducing congestion and cleaning up our air.