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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will review the Government's policy on hydraulic fracturing for shale gas; and if he will consider in that review the (a) extent of public opposition to that technique and (b) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent findings that significant decarbonisation must take place within 12 years.

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.