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 make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the research by Clark, C. et al. entitled Unconventional Oil and Gas Development Exposure and Risk of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case–Control Study in Pennsylvania, 2009–2017, published in Environmental Health Perspectives on 17 August 2022.

Onshore exploration for oil and gas in the UK is strictly regulated by expert bodies including the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive. This applies to both unconventional and conventional sources of oil and gas.

Those bodies are best placed to consider the applicability of studies from other countries with significantly different regulations and production contexts, to the UK, and to provide guidance accordingly.

The Government will continue to follow the expert advice of regulators to manage risks to the public appropriately.