Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 December 2025
09 Dec 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
E-bikes and E-scooters (Antisocial Use)
I am always looking for bedtime reading, particularly when I am struggling to get to sleep at night. [Laughter.] Liam Kerr knows how to get the paper to me.
Those serious points are well made. We all understand that, with regard to young people and children, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 14 to ride an e-bike in Scotland, and privately owned e-scooters cannot be used legally on public roads, pavements, cycle lanes or other public spaces. We want our pavements, streets and communities to be safe for everyone. In the wrong hands, used in the wrong place, these e-scooters and e-bikes can be dangerous weapons.
I am not trying to ruin the spirit of Christmas, but I know that parents are under real pressure to buy these e-scooters for their children. I was recently upgrading my mobile phone in a local electrical store in Hamilton that sells household goods as well, and the minute you walk in the door, there is an array of e-scooters in front of you, and parents feel real pressure. We need everyone, including retailers, to be responsible. However, I would like to hear from the minister today on the point about policing, because I feel that the big issue is a lack of enforcement. I will leave that point with the minister.
18:24In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-19918, in the name of Sue Webber, on dealing with the dangerous use of e-bikes and e-s...
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I thank everyone who has taken the time to stay behind and speak in this members’ business debate, given the challenging weather tonight. Last week, in the ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
We move to the open debate. I advise colleagues that we have a lot of interest, so I would be grateful if members could stick to their allocated speaking tim...
Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Sue Webber for bringing to the chamber this important debate on the dangerous use of e-bikes and e-scooters. As convener of the cross-party group on...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I congratulate Sue Webber on bringing the debate to the chamber, because the issue is—as we have just heard—a real menace throughout the country. In Aberdeen...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
My concern relates to the member suggesting that more visible police—or more police on the beat, as we might say—is somehow a solution. I propose to him that...
Liam Kerr
Con
I respectfully disagree with Christine Grahame. I understand her point—that we cannot swamp one area with police and move the problem to a different area. Ho...
Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Sue Webber for securing the debate and raising the important issues that her motion highlights. It is good to hear cross-party agreement from Clare A...
Liam Kerr
Con
Monica Lennon might also be very interested in my justice paper. Would she like me to send it over after the debate?
Monica Lennon
Lab
I am always looking for bedtime reading, particularly when I am struggling to get to sleep at night. Laughter. Liam Kerr knows how to get the paper to me. T...
Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank my colleague Sue Webber for bringing this important debate to the chamber. Her motion highlights the growing problem of the dangerous and antisocial ...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
I was not going to contribute, but I have managed to get some free time this evening and it is a very important debate. I agree with much that Sue Webber sai...
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
Does Christine Grahame understand that the position that she describes is because those vehicles are not legal on the roads? It is vehicles on our roads that...
Christine Grahame
SNP
They are illegal on pavements, but they are actually legal on roads. If you look at the “Highway Code”, which I have looked at carefully, you will see that t...
Sue Webber
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Christine Grahame
SNP
Yes, I will take the intervention, although I was about to sit down.
Sue Webber
Con
I think that the problem—as my motion should perhaps have intimated—is illegal use, or illegal e-bikes. All the issues arise when they hit speeds of 15 mph a...
Christine Grahame
SNP
Yes, I appreciate that there are restrictions in the definition of a e-bike, and limitations on speed, but we know that the riders break those. All of that ...
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I, too, thank my colleague Sue Webber for bringing this important debate to the chamber—
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Can we have your microphone up, please?
Tess White
Con
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In the past few months, I have had near misses from a souped-up e-scooter or e-bike in Edinburgh. One morning, I came i...
Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, thank Sue Webber for securing the debate on this important issue. I agree with my colleague Monica Lennon that the debate is timely, given that, at t...
Christine Grahame
SNP
I might have misheard Michael Marra, but I thought that I heard him show a certain degree of sympathy for my proposition that e-bikes should be licensed, reg...
Michael Marra
Lab
I have some level of sympathy for that proposition applying to the different forms of vehicles that are being used. We must get a grip on their general use. ...
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I congratulate my friend and colleague Sue Webber on securing this important and, I believe, timely debate. I place on record my entry in the register of mem...
Christine Grahame
SNP
I know that the member is keen to have clarity in the chamber. I was speaking about e-bikes; I did not mention e-scooters. The fact is that what I said about...
Douglas Ross
Con
I will come on to that. However, you will need to help me to do so, Presiding Officer—the clock is ticking.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Indeed. If you could take us up to 6.46, that would be helpful.
Douglas Ross
Con
Okay—that is fine. I was speaking about e-scooters. If Christine Grahame was speaking about e-bikes, I apologise. However, going back to my original point,...
The Minister for Victims and Community Safety (Siobhian Brown)
SNP
I thank Sue Webber for bringing the debate to Parliament and all members for their contributions highlighting the dangerous and antisocial use of e-bikes and...