Moratorium on fracking in Scotland

The Scottish Government will not grant permission to frack for gas in the immediate future, according to Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. 

The SNP minister said there would be a moratorium on fracking until a full public health impact assessment and a public consultation was carried out. The position was "proportionate and responsible," he said. 

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said Ewing had bowed to pressure from Labour and campaigners, but risked jobs at places like the Ineos plant at Grangemouth.

The UK Government was to award licences to extract underground shale gas using fracking in many parts of Scotland, but the Scottish Government statement confirms they would not grant planning permission for such work. Existing projects will go ahead.

Earlier this week a Westminster Committee called for a UK-wide moratorium on the grounds it could derail efforts to tackle climate change. In their report, the committee said shale fracking was incompatible with UK carbon targets and could pose risks to the environment and people’s health. However yesterday an amendment to suspend fracking until further assessments were carried out was defeated in the House of Commons. Labour abstained after the UK Government agreed to a set of conditions to be met before fracking can take place.

In Scotland Labour energy spokesman Lewis Macdonald said the Scottish Government's announcement didn't go far enough. Labour would introduce a ‘triple lock’ system which would mean fracking would only take place if local communities agreed, and lessons were learned from examples elsewhere in the UK, he said.  

The Scottish Greens meanwhile are calling for a ban. Alison Johnstone MSP said: "The SNP and Labour voted against a ban last year when I led the Scottish Parliament's first debate on fracking. While a delay to allow for further research is a welcome step, it remains a worry that neither SNP ministers nor Labour are talking about ruling it out. Leaving the door ajar to a new wave of fossil fuels is incompatible with our climate change ambitions and risks diverting attention and investment from the undoubted opportunity we have to pursue clean technology and energy efficiency."