The Department for Transport has launched a consultation on proposals to introduce a licensing framework for shared cycle and e-cycle hire schemes in England, aiming to rebalance the relationship between operators, users and local authorities.
Under the plans, set out by Roads Minister Justin Madders MP, operators of qualifying shared micromobility schemes will be required to hold a licence before they can operate legally and operating without a licence will become a criminal offence.
The consultation proposes four key objectives for licensing: promoting active and sustainable travel, ensuring safety and accessibility for users and non-users, integrating schemes into wider transport networks, and enabling stable, well-managed schemes that communities can rely on.
Licences would be awarded and managed by strategic authorities, or local transport authorities where no strategic authority exists. Every licence would include a core set of mandatory national minimum standards, with licensing authorities able to add bespoke local conditions. The government’s preferred approach includes requiring locally designed parking plans, antisocial behaviour and illegal use plans, defined fleet sizes and operating areas, fleet management and maintenance plans, and minimum data-sharing requirements.
Writing in the consultation, Madders said: ‘While shared cycles have a great many potential benefits, the current situation is not working for local people or for scheme operators. There is too much uncertainty and inconsistency for responsible shared cycle operators to confidently invest and expand their offerings and too few powers for local authorities to tackle issues arising from these schemes.”
He added that a ‘disproportionate burden’ of negative impacts falls on vulnerable pavement users, saying: “Safety is my top priority, and I take these issues very seriously.’
The consultation seeks views on a range of areas, including parking, fleet management, data sharing, enforcement, fees and licensing processes. It proposes that all shared cycle licences include a formal parking plan, developed by operators and licensing authorities with input from highway authorities, and that licensing authorities set specific, measurable requirements on parking management and compliance.
Other proposals include a fleet management plan to ensure vehicles are located where needed, a requirement for vehicle maintenance plans, and central minimum standards for data sharing, with licensing authorities able to add further requirements. The government is also considering whether to require some level of open data, such as real-time vehicle locations, journey prices and parking locations.
On enforcement, the consultation proposes that licensing authorities monitor and enforce criminal offences associated with licensing, with a preferred approach to financial sanctions based on those for environmental offences. It sets out proposed fine ranges for criminal breaches of licensing law, varying by culpability and organisation size.
The consultation takes a neutral approach on several issues, including insurance requirements and any associated user verification, approaches to licence fees and pricing to users, and transitional arrangements.
On insurance, the government said it does not intend to make insurance mandatory for cyclists, but noted that renting a cycle is “a different proposition” as people are buying a transport service. It is seeking views on whether an insurance requirement should be included in shared cycle licensing and, if so, what that requirement should be.
The consultation is England-only, and the government said it will continue to work closely with the devolved governments. E-scooters are not included in the consultation because they remain illegal to use on the road except in the government’s rental trials, though the government has committed to bringing forward new micromobility vehicle legislation when parliamentary time allows.
According to industry body CoMoUK, there are almost 70,000 rental cycles in the UK as of March 2026, up from 50,000 in March 2024, with e-cycles making up 70% of the fleet in 2024.
The organisation’s chief executive, Richard Dilks, said: ‘CoMoUK welcomes this vital consultation as part of the move to licensing of shared bikes.
‘We hope licensing can be a way to provide suitable and well-enforced parking spaces for this highly popular, low carbon mode of travel and so help the government deliver on its own commitment to scale up shared mobility.
‘Any regulation should protect the many benefits that these schemes bring, including boosting the rates of active travel, improving air quality, and reducing traffic congestion.’
The government said the length of the implementation period has not yet been determined and will likely depend on the final nature of licensing. It warned that the period must be long enough for licensing authorities to design and award licences, otherwise existing schemes would be operating without a licence on the day regulations come into effect.
The consultation invites contributions from ‘anyone who can help us achieve this’ including the general public, operators, local authorities and civil society groups.
The consultation, which can be accessed here, closes on 31 December 2026.
Photo: Nick Sokolov
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