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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether companies that hold a licence for hydraulic fracturing for shale gas exploration will require further permissions to commence excavation.

The North Sea Transition Authority offers Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs); however, these are not specific to shale gas and do not give permission for operations. Further consents and approvals are required to undertake hydraulic fracturing activity, as well as from other regulators including the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.