In the UK, we have been regulating for gas and oil drilling, both onshore and offshore, for many years and have one of the best track records in the world when it comes to protecting our environment while also developing our industries.

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) monitors seismicity as part of their regulatory duties at shale gas sites. Before consent for hydraulic fracturing is granted, a Hydraulic Fracture Plan must be agreed with the OGA. Operators have to evaluate the historical and background seismicity and the in-situ stress regime, and delineate faults in the area of the proposed well to identify the risk of activating any fault by hydraulic fracturing. The fracture plan also includes appropriate plans to monitor seismicity before, during and after the well operations.

The OGA requires certain controls and requirements to be adhered to by an operator including following a real-time traffic light system during hydraulic fracturing. If a seismic event over 0.5ML on the ‘Richter Local Scale’ (a ‘red’ event) is detected and causally linked to the operations, hydraulic fracturing is suspended for a minimum of 18 hours.

Seismic events with a magnitude of 2.0 or below (on the Local Richter Scale) are usually not felt at the surface and a magnitude 0.5 is far below the ground motion caused by a passing vehicle, for context, the British Geological Survey has estimated that in the UK we have, on average, around 166 natural occurring earthquakes of 2.9ML and below per year.

There are no plans to review the policy on shale gas, it remains the Government’s view that there are potentially substantial benefits from the safe and sustainable exploration and development of our onshore shale gas resources.

Wave 25 of the Public Attitude tracker from April 2018 showed that 64% of people either supported or were neither in support or opposition to shale gas developments in the UK.

The Government remains committed to decarbonising the economy. Natural gas still meets a third of our energy demand and can have a long-term role – particularly alongside the development of carbon capture, utilisation and storage – which is compatible with our climate change targets as we transition to a low carbon economy.

Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The National Planning Policy Framework including, where relevant, national planning policy relating to climate change, is a material consideration in planning decisions. In deciding called-in applications or recovered appeals, the Secretary of State will take into account all material considerations which are before him at the time of the decision.

Decisions on recovered appeals are taken on the basis of the material considerations which are before the Secretary of State at the time of the decision, including material considerations put forward to the local planning authority at the time of the application.

Shale gas and oil operations involve hydraulic fracturing in wells drilled over a mile below the surface. At that depth it is highly unlikely that there will be any negative impact closer to the surface.

Like most other industrial activities, oil and gas operations require permission from landowners to access their land in order to reach mineral deposits.

Operators prefer where possible to agree this through negotiation with the landowner, but there is an existing legal route by which they can apply for access where this cannot be negotiated. In this respect, it is already possible for an operator to gain access to land for the extraction of oil or gas without a landowner’s permission through the courts.

The Government is considering whether these existing procedures used to obtain access are fit for purpose in relation to underground land. We have not yet made a decision on what actions we may take.

In regulating hydraulic fracturing, as with other regulation for oil and gas, the UK seeks to reflect best international practice. The UK has long experience in regulating onshore oil and gas and a robust regulatory framework. Negotiations are at an early stage but we think it unlikely that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will have any

effect on regulation of shale gas activities in the UK or in the EU as a whole. Any regulation changes would be through normal processes. Nevertheless, we hope that the TTIP negotiations will help facilitate access to US exports of gas for the EU including, of course, for the UK.

It is too early in the TTIP negotiations to assess the likely impact in relation to GM crops. The main issue for consideration is the fact that the EU takes longer to authorise the import of GM crops as commodities for food and feed use than the USA takes to clear them for marketing. This has the potential to disrupt trade in both GM and conventional agricultural commodities.

Certain previous trade agreements outline a number of high-level principles in relation to arrangements for controlling the prices of medicines, including transparency of pricing, timely and meaningful communication of decisions and disclosure of determination criteria and methodologies. At this stage we do not expect the TTIP to include any additional obligations in this area.

There will be a direct financial incentive for local government from hosting shale gas production sites from retaining all of the business rates paid. It is too early to say how many authorities will benefit from this measure as this will depend upon a range of factors including the location and extent of the shale gas.

My Department holds regular discussions with representatives of local government on business rates and the rates retention scheme. We will engage with interested parties including local government on regulations to implement 100% local business rates retention for shale gas production.

Allowing local authorities to keep 100% of business rates on shale gas production sites is part of our long-term economic plan to build a stronger, more competitive economy, create more jobs and secure a better future for Britain. We believe communities that host a shale gas site should see a concrete benefit. The industry has committed to a package for communities that host a shale gas site which includes a payment of £100,000 for each hydraulically fractured well at the exploratory stage, as well as 1% of all revenues from production. Local councils will also benefit from shale gas production as well by keeping 100% of business rates from shale gas production—double the current figure of 50%. This commitment could be worth up to £1.7 million a year for a typical site. It will be funded by central Government and will ensure that local government feels a direct financial incentive, in addition to local jobs and growth supported by shale gas development.