Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much (a) official development aid and (b) non-official development aid has been spent via the Prosperity Fund by his Department to provide fracking expertise to foreign Governments since 2016.

Through the Prosperity Fund, the FCO has spent around £87,000 Official Development Assistance (ODA) on projects intended to improve the environmental regulation of shale gas development in China since 2016.

The UK regulatory regime for Shale gas is considered among the most robust and stringent in the world. Sharing UK expertise within the UK oil and gas sector, including on environmental regulation, can help ensure that the exploration or development of resources like natural gas is done to a high standard and is managed as part of a transition to low carbon energy system, as well as supporting economic development and poverty reduction