Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2018, HCWS 690 on Energy Policy, which organisations were consulted prior to that statement being made.

The Department worked closely with relevant government departments in developing the Written Ministerial Statement, which advanced the commitments from the Government’s 2017 manifesto to support the development of shale gas extraction. So we are setting out a series of actions, including those committed to in the Government’s 2017 manifesto to support the development of shale gas extractionWe engaged with stakeholders as part of our ongoing stakeholder engagement.

The statement announced forthcoming consultations on areas of the policy. We did not consult on the statement in advance.