Today my hon Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom) has made the following statement.

14th Onshore Licensing Round

I am pleased to inform the House that the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) – the UK’s oil and gas regulator – has today announced that licences...

Today my hon Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change (Andrea Leadsom) has made the following statement.

14th Onshore Licensing Round

I am pleased to inform the House that the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) – the UK’s oil and gas regulator – has today announced that licences...

I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next year’s business, and I would like to wish you and your staff, Mr Speaker, all the best for a peaceful and merry Christmas. I extend my good wishes to the Deputy Leader of the House, who I hope has a...

I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next year’s business, and I would like to wish you and your staff, Mr Speaker, all the best for a peaceful and merry Christmas. I extend my good wishes to the Deputy Leader of the House, who I hope has a...

The hon. Gentleman is in his characteristically flamboyant form. Whether that is because he had an abstemious night or because he has been tasting quite a lot of single malts I do not know, but I wish him and all his colleagues a very happy festive period, and I hope...

The hon. Gentleman is in his characteristically flamboyant form. Whether that is because he had an abstemious night or because he has been tasting quite a lot of single malts I do not know, but I wish him and all his colleagues a very happy festive period, and I hope...

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the extraction of shale gas in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the extraction of shale gas in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what he weight he plans to give to the views of people living close to the proposed shale gas well at Roseacre and Preston New Road in the process for considering planning appeals by Cuadrilla Resources to build wells...

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what he weight he plans to give to the views of people living close to the proposed shale gas well at Roseacre and Preston New Road in the process for considering planning appeals by Cuadrilla Resources to build wells...

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons he has decided to recover the planning appeals by Caudrilla Resources to build shale gas wells at Roseacre and Preston New Road.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reasons he has decided to recover the planning appeals by Caudrilla Resources to build shale gas wells at Roseacre and Preston New Road.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on pausing planning applications to build shale gas wells until after the Environment Agency has completed its consultation and published guidance for onshore oil and gas operations in the UK.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his policy is on pausing planning applications to build shale gas wells until after the Environment Agency has completed its consultation and published guidance for onshore oil and gas operations in the UK.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support the Government has provided to Egypt for oil and shale gas development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support the Government has provided to Egypt for oil and shale gas development.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit hydraulic fracturing from being conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of sensitive areas within the boundaries of existing petroleum exploration and development licences.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit hydraulic fracturing from being conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of sensitive areas within the boundaries of existing petroleum exploration and development licences.

My Lords, we are today considering an instrument which sets out definitions for the “protected groundwater source areas” and “other protected areas” in which hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited. The powers to make this secondary legislation are found in Section 4B of the Petroleum Act 1998, as inserted by Section...

My Lords, we are today considering an instrument which sets out definitions for the “protected groundwater source areas” and “other protected areas” in which hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited. The powers to make this secondary legislation are found in Section 4B of the Petroleum Act 1998, as inserted by Section...

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, I have given notice to the Minister that I was going to raise this point, but before doing so, I should say that I take second place to nobody in supporting the priorities spelled out in the statement that the Minister took the opportunity of making. We have...

My Lords, I have given notice to the Minister that I was going to raise this point, but before doing so, I should say that I take second place to nobody in supporting the priorities spelled out in the statement that the Minister took the opportunity of making. We have...

My Lords, I will raise two matters, which the Minister skated over slightly in his introduction. The first is the definition of the protected areas, which is a different definition to that which was brought into force when the Infrastructure Act was introduced by the previous coalition Government. The Minister...

My Lords, I will raise two matters, which the Minister skated over slightly in his introduction. The first is the definition of the protected areas, which is a different definition to that which was brought into force when the Infrastructure Act was introduced by the previous coalition Government. The Minister...

My Lords, I welcome the statutory instrument. I listened with great interest to my noble friend Lord Judd and the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter. I declare straightaway that I have no pecuniary/financial interests. I have an interest in energy and in the area of fracking in particular because I think...

My Lords, I welcome the statutory instrument. I listened with great interest to my noble friend Lord Judd and the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter. I declare straightaway that I have no pecuniary/financial interests. I have an interest in energy and in the area of fracking in particular because I think...

I thank my noble friend. I have checked my notes. I misquoted, and I accept the correction: it is 1,200 metres.

I thank my noble friend. I have checked my notes. I misquoted, and I accept the correction: it is 1,200 metres.

I assumed that that was the case. I thank my noble friend for that.

We are going to be dependent on gas for 30 years, and some would say for even longer than that. It is ironic that we are prepared to import it. We know that importing liquid natural gas...

I assumed that that was the case. I thank my noble friend for that.

We are going to be dependent on gas for 30 years, and some would say for even longer than that. It is ironic that we are prepared to import it. We know that importing liquid natural gas...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument today, which I welcome. I have listened very carefully to the contributions made by others, and I should like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for her expressions of appreciation to the

farming community, which...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument today, which I welcome. I have listened very carefully to the contributions made by others, and I should like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for her expressions of appreciation to the

farming community, which...

I thank the Minister for his explanation of the regulations. He has explained the Government’s approach to providing added protections and assurances relating to the major public concerns regarding fracking in environmentally sensitive

areas around water catchment zones, national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and world heritage sites. We...

I thank the Minister for his explanation of the regulations. He has explained the Government’s approach to providing added protections and assurances relating to the major public concerns regarding fracking in environmentally sensitive

areas around water catchment zones, national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and world heritage sites. We...

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who have taken part in this debate and I will endeavour to cover the points that they have made. I shall address myself first to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, who, in a meeting yesterday evening in a corridor, did...

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who have taken part in this debate and I will endeavour to cover the points that they have made. I shall address myself first to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, who, in a meeting yesterday evening in a corridor, did...