Families to get £13,000 from fracking as May widens payouts

FAMILIES affected by fracking will be given a proportion of the money generated from the project under plans to be announced by Theresa May this week.

In a bid to flesh out her vision of an economy that “works for everyone”, the new Prime Minister will say she wants people to be able to directly benefit from fracking near their homes.

The move could mean householders gaining up to £13,000 and may swing public opinion as the country debates whether to embrace the new energy source.

Mrs May sees the idea as a way of “making sure people personally benefit from economic decisions” and could become a blueprint to be applied to other industries.

However, environmental charities opposed to fracking – the process of blasting water into cracks in the ground to release shale gas – are likely to see the move as an attempt to buy support.

The announcement may also be seen as a snub to George Osborne, the former chancellor sacked by Mrs May, whose plan for rewarding communities for fracking is being changed.

Last November, Mr Osborne used his Autumn Statement to create a Shale Wealth Fund worth up to £1 billion, which would ensure “communities benefit” from fracking.

A consultation to be launched this week was only due to look at sharing money made from processing shale gas with community trusts and local authorities. However, under Mrs May’s intervention, the consultation has been rewritten to also consider giving money directly to residents who are affected by the drilling.

Speaking ahead of the consultation launch, Mrs May said: “The Government I lead will be always be driven by the interests of the many – ordinary families for whom life is harder than many people in politics realise.

“As I said on my first night as Prime Minister: when we take the big calls, we’ll think not of the powerful but of you.

“This announcement is an example of putting those principles into action. It’s about making sure people personally benefit from economic decisions that are taken – not just councils – and putting them back in control over their lives.

“We’ll be looking at applying this approach to other government programmes in the future too, as we press on with the work of building a country that works for everyone.”

Since taking power in 2010, the Conservatives have championed fracking in Britain after seeing its success in America and other countries around the world.

However, proposed projects have been blighted by protests from environmental activists and concerns from local communities, most notably over a site in West Sussex which the energy firm Cuadrilla wants to drill.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, and her son made headlines when they were among a group arrested while protesting against the drilling in 2013.

A British Geological Survey study of shale gas across the north of England estimated a total shale gas resource of 1,300 trillion cubic feet – far exceeding the UK annual gas consumption of around 2.5 trillion cubic feet.

Charities, businesses, councils and community groups as well as individuals are being urged to submit their views for the consultation.

Communities could get up to 10 per cent of the tax revenue generated from exploratory fracking in their area under the new fund, meaning up to £10 million for eligible communities. However, the amount families could receive is yet to be set.

A government source suggested the idea may be more widely applied if successful, saying that it could be a “model for other community benefit schemes with the aim of putting more control and more resources in the hands of local households”.

However, the move is likely to be criticised by environmental groups including Greenpeace UK, which is sceptical of the benefits of fracking.

“The Government wants people to believe that fracked gas will send energy bills crashing. But the problem is there aren’t any facts on the Government’s side,” the group says on its website.

They also warn: “The world already has far more gas and oil than we can burn if we are to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global climate change.

“Finding more will only make it worse.”