Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department discussed (a) the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report, Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts, published in redacted form in March 2014 and (b) the timing of that report's release, in either redacted or full form, with Cuadrilla.

The Department did not discuss this report, or its timing, with Cuadrilla. This was a draft internal paper and is not analytically robust. It refers to data from overseas studies which cannot be used to predict impacts in the UK with any degree of reliability. The UK has a robust regulatory regime that will ensure that the exploration and production of shale gas can be carried out in a safe and environmentally sound manner. We are committed to ensuring that communities feel the benefits of fracking. Investment in shale could reach £33 billion and support 64,000 jobs in the oil, gas, construction, engineering and chemical sectors. That would be good news for the whole of the UK economy.