Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that decisions on shale gas well locations are taken by local authorities.

Planning law requires that applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the Local Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This is why our planning guidance encourages Local Minerals Plans, where appropriate, to give clear guidance and criteria for the location and assessment of hydrocarbon extraction within Petroleum Licence Areas. I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statements of 16 September (HCWS201 and HCWS202) which set out the Government’s policy on timely decision-taking on planning applications relating to shale gas extraction.