The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, has today brought a new direction before Parliament clarifying the processes for applying for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent for all shale gas operations. It means that all operators will now have to apply to BEIS for the consent, even if the well was drilled prior to the Infrastructure Act coming into force in 2015. This new development is a technicality and it has caused delays in the provision of consent, but it is right and proper that all operations are subject to the same scrutiny and procedure. It does not affect the comprehensive regime of regulations in place which will ensure that fracking is subject to detailed regulations and monitoring by the Environment Agency, Health & Safety Executive and the Mineral Planning Authority, as well as the independent monitoring carried out by the British Geological Survey, to ensure it protects the environment and our countryside.