Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of e-scooters on high streets in Newbury constituency.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for the Government and a key part of the Safer Streets Mission. We are giving police the powers they need to tackle anti-social vehicles including the illegal use of e-scooters, to make it easier for them to seize these vehicles from offenders and dispose of them.

On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers against illegal use of e-scooters involved in anti-social behaviour with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.

Removing this requirement to provide a warning will make the s59 Police Reform Act powers easier to apply, allowing police to put an immediate stop to offending and seize vehicles which are used anti-socially and send a clear message that this sort of behaviour is not tolerated.

Law enforcement, including the enforcement of law on the roads, is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer, who will decide how to deploy available resources taking into account any specific local problems and demands they face

Product safety laws require all consumer products to be safe before they are sold. In addition, distributors, including online marketplaces, must not supply products they know, or should know, are unsafe.