Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department requires that the levels of methane in groundwater must have been monitored for a full 12-month period before hydraulic fracturing can begin.

Where an application is made, the department requires that the level of methane in groundwater has, or will have, been monitored in the period of 12 months before hydraulic fracturing begins.