Ms June Tinsley:

I want to come back in on two issues. In regard to the insurance requirement, it is mandatory in some of our European neighbours, for example, Germany and France, whereas it is optional in other countries, so that is something we need greater consistency on.

In terms of the sound, again, taking the learning from the EU, there is a clear EU regulation that mandates that sound needs to be inserted on all electric and hybrid vehicles from July of last year. Using that as a model, we can translate it into something similar for the e-scooter sector. I know that, for example, some countries such as the UK and Australia had installed sounds on e-scooters but they were not robustly tested or scientifically proven, and it was done in a rushed manner. The feedback they got from pedestrians, providers and users was that the sound was not effective so they have withdrawn that pilot.

There is plenty of scope to improve the research and the evidence base to make sure we arrive at a sound that can be used and can be consistent across Europe. As I said, if we use the model that applies to electric vehicles, it could be a solution.