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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential environmental impact of lifting the moratorium on fracking.

Development of shale gas needs to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards set by regulators including the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the North Sea Transition Authority.

Domestic gas typically has less than half the production emissions of imported LNG and, therefore, when substituted for imports, contributes to the UK’s carbon emission reduction goals.