Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has sought assurances from the Energy Minister, Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, over the steps the Government are taking to ensure that homes near shale gas otherwise known as fracking extraction sites would not be subject to increased household insurance premiums.

In response to a parliamentary question from the Crawley MP, the Energy Minister replied:

“There is no reason to expect that exploration activities will have any adverse effect on the insurance premiums of the properties located within the vicinity of exploration activities.

“There has been no evidence of any such effect in the UK to date, in over half a century of oil and gas exploration and production. Gas and oil produced from shale rock through hydraulic fracturing should be broadly similar to the existing gas and oil production in terms of the impacts on health, local amenity, traffic movements and so on. The activities will be subject to the same robust safety and environmental regime, supplemented by new controls against the risk of earthquakes.”

On receiving this response, Henry said:

“I share some of the concerns expressed by some local residents regarding shale gas extraction operations just down the road in Balcombe and am pleased to have received reassurance that my constituents will not adversely.

“Additionally I’m pleased that the Minister has reaffirmed that the ‘fracking’ process carries no further concerns to health, local amenity and traffic movements, than that of the standard UK oil and gas procedure.”

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