Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the cost to a local authority of processing an environmental impact assessment for unconventional oil and gas extraction.

Our expectation is that the costs to minerals planning authorities of processing an environmental impact assessment linked to a planning application for unconventional oil or gas extraction will be broadly comparable to those already incurred in respect of conventional oil and gas extraction applications.