Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Hollinrake Excerpts

Thursday 7th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I completely agree. In fact, just recently I went to see a proposed new project in my own county of Northamptonshire that is looking to use landfill to create a renewable heat scheme. Some fantastic new ideas are coming forward, and my officials and I are always very keen to hear about them and support them where we can.

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to prevent shale gas drilling at the surface in areas of the greatest environmental value.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom)]

First, I commend my hon. Friend for the personal commitment he has shown to researching best practice in this area. I can assure him that the Government are committed to protecting our most valuable spaces from surface drilling of wells for fracking. On 4 November, we set out how we plan to do this via petroleum exploration and development licences. We will issue a response to our industry consultation as soon as possible.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I very much welcome the Minister’s comments. The Task Force on Shale Gas has called for a single regulator and increased levels of independent monitoring. Does the Minister agree that this would improve public confidence and provide further protection, particularly for our most sensitive areas?

[Andrea Leadsom]

The task force’s 2015 report says that the regulatory regime is currently fit for purpose, but my hon. Friend rightly points to its proposal that if the shale gas industry does develop the Government should consider creating a bespoke regulator. I can absolutely assure him that we will keep the regulatory regime under review to make sure that it remains fit for purpose. On his second point about independent monitoring, I entirely agree, and that is why we are already grant-funding baseline monitoring in North Yorkshire and Lancashire.