Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Michael Fallon and Lord Lilley(10 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Michael Fallon
We will, of course, reply to the letter from the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues from Lancashire. However, the decision to give local authorities 100% business rate retention could mean up to £1.75 million a year per well site, and the decision to allocate 1% of the revenues to local communities could mean up to £10 million for a well site. These are formidable sums, and I think it is right that local communities share in any of the benefits that arise from shale.
Mr Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con)
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that nearly 200 wells in this country and over 2 million wells worldwide have used hydraulic fracturing technology and not a single person has been poisoned by contaminated sub-surface water supplies and not a single building has been damaged by the resultant minuscule earth tremors?
Michael Fallon
I can certainly confirm that hydraulic fracturing is a well-established technique. It has been used the world over. We also have experience of onshore drilling in this country for nearly 100 years now, since the end of the first world war, and hydraulic fracturing will be permitted only if it is safe not only for those involved but for the environment and the local community.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Michael Fallon and Lord Lilley
Michael Fallon
Our focus on coal over the past three months has been almost wholly on ensuring the survival of the Thoresby and Kellingley collieries, which are two of the four remaining deep-mine collieries in this country. I am pleased to say that UK Coal Operations Ltd entered its restructuring earlier this week, meaning that some 2,000 jobs have now been saved. That has been the focus for my Department, for officials from a whole number of Government agencies and for the management of that company.
Mr Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden) (Con)
10. What steps he is taking to encourage shale gas exploration in the UK.
The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)
Further to my earlier answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson), the Government have commissioned the British Geological Survey to carry out a study of possible shale gas resources in the Weald basin in the south-east of England. This will be published in the early part of next year. We are also carrying out a strategic environmental assessment with a view to launching a further onshore licensing round for oil and gas in 2014.
Mr Lilley
Given that 2 million fracking wells have been drilled in the United States without harm to life or property, will my right hon. Friend act vigorously to thwart the vexatious use of environmental laws by Friends of the Earth and others to keep shale gas in the ground? In particular, will he introduce early legislation to clarify UK red-line planning laws and to restrict them to surface installations? Will he also tell us what he plans to do to prevent the mining waste directive and the groundwater directives from being used expansively to delay and prevent the exploitation of shale gas in this country?
Michael Fallon
The Environment Agency has already announced its actions to streamline and simplify the system of permits required, which will be in the interest of everyone, including developers and local communities. My colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government will next week announce a simplified system of planning guidance so that the industry can be clear about the necessary planning permissions. As I have said, the Treasury will also announce next week the fiscal incentives that are necessary if we are to see this industry develop on anything like the scale that we have seen on the other side of the Atlantic.