Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much income the Environment Agency expects to raise from fracking firms to pay for the regulation of the industry; and if he will make a statement.

The Environment Agency does not separately record the income it expects to raise from fracking firms. However, it does hold estimates of the charges it expects to raise from environmental permits and licences for the onshore oil and gas industry as a whole.

Over the next year, with the current charging scheme, the Environment Agency estimates income of between £300,000 and £350,000. This includes fees from permit applications and annual subsistence, for mining waste, groundwater, radioactive substances and water resources permits. It does not include any site surrender fees as no sites are expected to surrender their permits over the next year. As the onshore shale gas part of the industry grows over time, we would expect the income from permitting charges to change.