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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many employees the new Shale Environmental Regulator Group plans to employ.

The Shale Environmental Regulator Group is a virtual entity bringing together the regulators of the onshore oil and gas sector, including shale gas operations (the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas Authority). Each of these regulators has the appropriate expertise and is properly resourced to enforce the regulations for which they are responsible. The Shale Environmental Regulator Group creates a single interface for Mineral Planning Authorities and industry, to streamline information access to the regulations, and three current employees of the Environment Agency have been deployed to support this new entity.