Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has carried out research into the potential risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.
It is not necessary for HSE to commission new research in order to be confident that it can regulate the shale industry effectively, due to the broad range of shale research already available and HSE's existing knowledge of oil and gas extraction.
I have asked HSE to keep the situation under review.