Scots ministers to finalise fracking policy in 2019

Scottish ministers will be ready to set out their finalised policy on fracking by spring 2019, MSPs have been told.

A moratorium on the controversial process has been in place since 2015, and the government said in October 2017 that it backed an "effective ban".

However after a legal challenge the government's lawyers then argued in court that this was a PR "gloss", and they had "not yet adopted a position".

A fresh consultation on environmental assessments has now been launched.

Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse wrote to MSPs saying it was anticipated that ministers would "inform parliament of our policy on the development of unconventional oil and gas in Scotland in the first quarter of 2019".

• Judge says fracking not banned in Scotland

Fracking is set to resume in England for the first time since 2011 after a legal challenge failed.

However, the practice remains prohibited in Scotland, with ministers enforcing a moratorium on it via planning powers.

Mr Wheelhouse told MSPs in October 2017 that the moratorium would continue "indefinitely", calling this an "effective ban" and saying that fracking "cannot and will not take place in Scotland".

This position was endorsed by MSPS by a vote of 91 to 28, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon later told the SNP conference that "fracking is now banned in Scotland".

Paul Wheelhouse told MSPs that there was an "effective ban" on fracking

However, when Petrochemical firms Ineos and Reach launched a legal challenge, the government's legal representative told the Court of Session that there was no ban in place as the policymaking process was still ongoing.

James Mure QC told the court that the concept of an "effective ban" was PR "gloss" and "the language of a press statement" - adding that ministers "have not yet adopted a position" on fracking.

Judge Lord Pentland said that lawyers had "made it clear to the court" that ministerial statements about a ban "were mistaken and did not accurately reflect the legal position".

The government has undertaken a strategic environmental assessment on its preferred position, and has now launched a public consultation on this.

Mr Wheelhouse wrote to MSPs saying that "it is anticipated" ministers would be ready to set out their finalised policy position "in the first quarter of 2019".

Ineos has been importing shale gas from abroad to its processing plant in Grangemouth

Friends of the Earth Scotland urged the government "commit to a full legal ban", rather than an extension of the moratorium.

Head of campaigns Mary Church said: "A future minority government could overturn the current policy not to support fracking with the stroke of a pen - and crucially, no recourse to parliament or the will of the people.

"Only a legislative approach can ensure a robust, enforceable ban on fracking."

Scottish Labour said the government's "processes and consultation can seem to go on and on", saying that "communities and business deserve clarity".

And the Scottish Lib Dems said that the "confusion at the heart of the Scottish government's approach has left communities affected both uncertain and apprehensive".