Meetings

William Powell declared the following relevant interest under Standing Order 17.24A:

• He is a long-standing campaigner against fracking.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to await comments from the petitioner on the Ministerial correspondence.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to the Minister for Natural Resources to clarify and explain the parameters of recent reported remarks about a moratorium on fracking, which are not covered in his letter to the Committee.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         Write to the new Minister for Natural Resources seeking his response to the petitioner’s document and his views on the related ‘petition’ submitted to the First Minister which had purportedly gathered 90,000 signatures; and

·         Forward the information submitted by Friends of the Earth Cymru to Natural Resources Wales (NRW), drawing their attention in particular to the comments on page 2 about the lack of guidance provided by NRW.

The Committee considered correspondence from the petitioner which included a letter to him from the First Minister and agreed to write to:

1.   The Minister for Natural Resources and Food asking for his views on the petitioner’s comments and in particular the requests from stakeholders for additional guidance;

2.   The First Minister, asking for further details about his apparent view that the current regulatory structures are appropriate, particularly given the views of stakeholders, which seem to suggest otherwise;

3.   The petitioner, seeking further information on the industry spokesperson mentioned in his correspondence; and

4.   Natural Resources Wales, seeking its views.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to the petitioners again asking them for any comments they may have on the responses received.

Due to time constraints, this item was deferred to the meeting on 10 December 2013.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to;

·         write to the Minister for Natural Resources and Food asking how many officials are fracking ‘experts’ and the level of expertise available to the Welsh Government;

·         write to the Environment and Sustainability Committee seeking an update on the recent oral evidence session on unconventional gas; and

·         write to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee highlighting the Committee’s consideration of this issue.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to;

·         the Environment and Sustainability Committee sharing the correspondence from the Minister for Housing and Regeneration, and highlighting that the Welsh Government are not currently planning to issue additional guidance, despite the request of both the petitioners and the WLGA; and

·         the Minister for Housing and Regeneration asking whether the Government have commissioned any research or sought independent advice into fracking.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to:

·         the Minister for Minister for Housing and Regeneration highlighting the Welsh Local Government Association’s concerns about a lack of guidance in relation to fracking; and

·         the Environment and Sustainability Committee asking to be kept updated with their consideration of the issue.

The Committee received correspondence in relation to the petition and agreed to:

Write to the Welsh Local Government Association to ask whether local planning authorities feel that existing planning guidance is clear enough on the issue of fracking;

Share the petitioners’ response with the Minister;

Write to the Environment and Sustainability Committee to ask whether it intends to undertake any further work in relation to fracking, following on from its inquiry into energy planning and policy.

The Committee considered this petition for the first time and agreed to write to the Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development to seek his views on the subject of the petition.