Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provisions of the Marine Policy Statement 2011 in the context of achieving his Department’s policy on new oil and gas licencing.

In March, the Government consulted on its commitment not to issue new licences to explore new fields.

The Marine Policy Statement was published in 2011 under a previous government. It includes support for oil and gas exploration.

Subject to the outcome of the consultation, this aspect of the Statement is unlikely to carry any practical effect in future.

Updating the Statement would be resource intensive for all governments involved. Instead, the Government is taking a more strategic approach to marine spatial planning, developing colocation solutions and working with the Marine Management Organisation on the replacement of the East Marine Plan.