My Lords, I am extremely grateful to all noble Lords for their contributions, but particularly to noble Lords who have supported the government amendments in lieu of the amendments that were made in another place.
A number of questions were raised. I want to make sure that I respond to all of them, but there will be one or two questions that I cannot commit to answering now and on which I will have to write to noble Lords, such as the question posed by my noble friend Lord Caithness about the number of miles of tunnels going underground. I do not think that information is at hand, unless of course the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has the answer.
I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, that our regulatory regime is robust. It will ensure that no hydraulic fracturing will be permitted where groundwater and drinking water supplies can be affected. We had a protracted debate not that long ago in which we made it very clear that this Government take very it seriously that operations will take place only if all of the environmental impact assessments are met. I had hoped that I had laid out today very clearly in my detailed speaking notes our response to what the other House came up with on Report. We have bettered the amendments that the other place made, so that they will be able to stand up to legal challenge and to ensure that the safeguards that she and other noble Lords, such as the noble Lord, Lord Truscott, have asked for can actually be delivered.
It would be wrong to return to the detail of a debate that has been well practised in this Chamber. The industry is already voluntarily doing a lot of what was asked in the amendments put by the Opposition. I am pleased with the response from my noble friends about what we have taken on board. It is never about a U-turn for a Government, it is about listening carefully and then making sure legislation works. If the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, wants to make a political point out of it, that is entirely up to the noble Lord. I would say, however, that it is really important that responsible and sensible Governments look very closely at legislation and then respond. I think that the general consensus in the House has been that we have listened, responded and returned with a much better set of amendments, which answer exactly what noble Lords opposite and their colleagues down the corridor have asked for.
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The noble Baroness, Lady Jones, asked what policies were in place for protecting groundwater. The Environment Agency does not allow drilling and associated fracking for shale gas in source protection zone 1 areas. This ensures that a high level of protection is accorded to drinking water sources. The amendment provides for protected groundwater source areas to be defined in regulations by the end of
July. I made that point clear in my opening remarks. Perhaps the noble Baroness missed that point as I was speaking.
The noble Lord, Lord Truscott, went into a long debate about global oil prices. As with all things, particularly in this sector, we do not look for what is happening today. As with all industry investment, we have to look for what will come up in the next five or 10 years. Had the Opposition considered the fact that 20% of our power was going to go offline by 2020, we would perhaps be looking at a different mix of energy. However, today we need a diverse mix. Shale is not the panacea or the golden or silver bullet, but it has the potential to be part of that mix.
We as a Government have also been precise in saying that we need the renewable sector to grow. I am pleased to say that in just under five years we have seen real confidence come to the UK in investment in the renewables sector, which has grown rapidly, with growth in jobs and local economies.
My noble friend Lord Borwick asked about de-linking the drilling of groundwater holes from the planning process. I can confirm that we are actively considering whether the drilling of boreholes for monitoring purposes should be classified as permitted development. We consider this to be an important matter to address, and look forward to that happening in the next Parliament. I should like to commit to delivering on our promise but we need more time to work out the details of exactly what will be in secondary legislation. I know that my noble friend would want that legislation to be absolutely right in its wording, and to demonstrate yet again that we have the right protections in place. I know that he would agree . My noble friend asked about the protections accorded to groundwater source protection zones. I reconfirm that the Environment Agency does not permit activities where there is a significant risk that pollution of groundwater will occur, including in source protection zone 1 areas. The precise definition will be laid out in secondary legislation. I hope that that will happen soon in the next Parliament.
I have made my political points to the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, and will put them to one side. He also asked whether the Government will require environmental impact assessments. A note from the local planning authority would be sufficient for the Secretary of State to satisfy himself that this condition has been met. This would state that the environmental information had been taken into account, which, in practice, would mean specifically that the process of environmental impact assessment would have had to have been carried out. The noble Lord also asked about other emissions in addition to methane. I undertake to write to him on that issue. I was asked whether there would be any exemptions for sensitive areas. Again, this will very much be in the secondary legislation, which, by the end of July, will state which areas will be protected.
My noble friend Lord Framlingham asked about planning permission in ancient woodland. Planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, a definition that includes ancient woodlands, and aged
or veteran trees found outside ancient woodland—unless the need for and benefits of the development in that location clearly outweigh the loss. My noble friend can be reassured that it will be only under severe circumstances that we would press to do anything where ancient woodland is there.
My noble friend Lord Caithness asked about marine nature reserves. The term “nature reserves” can, depending on the context, be applied to a variety of sites, including marine nature reserves and those with an international designation for their biodiversity. Again, “nature reserves” encapsulates a range of sites of special scientific interest. National nature reserves and marine nature reserves can come under the term.
The debate has been informative and I am pleased that the noble Lord on the Front Bench opposite made it clear in his opening remarks that the Opposition were not going to press on this issue. As regards Amendment 21G, he referred to separate notifications for individual residents but there would be no way in which the Secretary of State would be able to confirm that an operator had fulfilled this condition, as I said in my opening remarks. If the Secretary of State were required to satisfy himself of such a condition, despite being unable to obtain the evidence, it would leave every hydraulic fracturing consent issued by the Secretary of State wide open to legal challenge by third parties. Such a requirement would not, therefore, be a practical addition to the legislation.
More broadly, we wish this to be seen as a package that is informative to the community. I therefore hope that I have been able to satisfy noble Lords and that they will support the government amendments.