Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Greatrex Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

We will certainly look at all reports and international expertise in this area, but Water UK—the industry body for water—has looked at the management and treatment of water. Let me reassure the House that hydraulic fracturing will be allowed in this country only if it is absolutely safe for the environment, and that of course includes the protection of ground water supply.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

First, may I thank the Secretary of State and the Minister for their kind words about our friend and colleague, Paul Goggins, whose funeral takes place today? He was a regular contributor to these questions, and he was as assiduous in standing up for his constituents in fuel poverty as he was on so many other issues during his time in the House. As you will be aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) and my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) are absent this morning, along with many other Members, in order to attend the funeral mass. I know that the whole House will join them in remembering Paul’s tremendous record of public service, and in sending our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones at this very sad time.

May I ask the Minister to tell the House how many jobs he expects to arise from shale gas extraction in the UK?

[Michael Fallon]

The survey conducted by the Institute of Directors estimated that more than 70,000 jobs could be created by the shale gas industry. We are in the initial stages of the industry, and we expect to have two to three years of exploration, so it is not possible at this stage to make a firm forecast of the number of jobs, but that is the Institute of Directors’ best estimate. In other countries where shale gas has been successfully extracted, however, there have been huge benefits to the economy and reductions in household and business bills.

[Tom Greatrex]

I thank the Minister for that reply, repeating the figure that was used by the Prime Minister, by Tory central office and by others earlier this week. Does the Minister understand that addressing the legitimate environmental concerns about shale gas will require the Government to be careful, proportionate and responsible regarding what they say about a yet unrecovered energy source? In that context, will he explain why neither he nor—as far as I am aware—his Secretary of State has referred this morning to the findings of the detailed strategic environmental assessment undertaken by AMEC on behalf of his Department? Those findings put the likely figure for full-time equivalent jobs at between 16,000 and 32,000 during peak construction in the next licensing round.

[Michael Fallon]

There have been a number of estimates, but, as I have said, it is far too early to be sure about the pace of shale gas extraction when we are still at the exploration stage. We have seen estimates from AMEC, and I have quoted the estimate from the Institute of Directors.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. I think that we have got the point.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I remind the Secretary of State that it was the Conservative Government who privatised the electricity industry and, crucially, John Major who lifted the restriction and allowed that vertical integration. In an article in The Guardian on Monday, the Secretary of State wrote that the big six

“either supplied themselves or opted for over-the-counter deals, with no transparency”

and that vertical integration

“raised concerns about the wholesale market.”

Will he therefore answer the question that my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North West (John Robertson) asked: does he agree with the policy of separating the generation and supply arms of those big businesses?