We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Maureen Mills please sign in and let everyone know.

Concern about Wave 26 Public Attitudes Tracker not including questions about shale gas

We're waiting for Maureen Mills to read a recent response and update the status.

Dear Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,

I note with some concern and confusion that the Government's response to the Public Attitudes Tracker Review (open from 16 February 2018 to 18 March 2018) was published on 16th August 2018, the same day that Wave 26 findings were published. It is stated on the Wave 26 website page:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics...

that the data was collected between 11 July to 17 July 2018.

Therefore, the questions due to be asked in July 2018 regarding shale gas were dropped from Wave 26 immediately when the government's response to the consultation had not even been published. In this respect the government's response shows that respondents gave great weight to these questions and frequency, it states:

"Consultation respondents use the tracker to track public opinion, help inform decisions, support research, provide evidence for investment proposals, raise community awareness, and provide evidence for campaigns. Their most important questions are those on shale gas, support for renewable energy/technologies/nuclear energy, attitudes towards electric vehicles and worry about energy bills. Most demographic questions were also considered useful."

"When it came to amendments, consultation respondents were particularly concerned about
any changes to fracking questions. However, they approved of changing the question on ‘worry over energy bills’ to an open question. BEIS has decided to retain the shale gas questions and keep them under review............."

The most important questions in the survey, for the 25 respondents who answered this
question, were:

• Question 15 a-e: Shale gas awareness, support/opposition, reasons for support/
opposition (7 responses)"

On frequency:

"Of the 39 people who responded to this question, 17 stated a change in the frequency of the
tracker would affect them or their work. Twenty respondents gave feedback on how frequency changes would impact them. In summary, it was felt a quarterly survey was necessary to remain up to date with public opinion, particularly in terms of policy changes and seasonal variation in responses. "

Notwithstanding all of the responses to the review, the shale gas questions relating to support or opposition to shale gas will be "kept under review" and were omitted in July 2018 and are reduced to an annual frequency. I appreciate that you state that the annual survey was published in April followed by three quarterly surveys............ "where attitudes were expected to change quickly". Nothing has changed in that respect, in fact it might be asked why would the shale gas questions be reduced to annual when the industry is well quoted in the press as intending to commence high volume hydraulic fracturing at Preston New Road on the Fylde in the Autumn? Surely attitudes could be expected to change quickly in the event that their timescale is kept, which indeed it has with fracking due to commence today.

My question to BEIS is this: Please can I sight the correspondence between "the government" and BEIS before and after the Attitudes Tracker review relating to the content of the questions on shale gas and the future frequency of those, including whose decision it was to drop the questions in the July 2018 survey before the government's response had even been published?

I look forward to your timely response.

Yours faithfully,
Maureen Mills

BEIScorrespondence@beis.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Requests, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

BEIS ref: FOI2018/22100

Dear Maureen Mills

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 15th
October. Your request has been passed on to the appropriate official at
the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to deal
with.

Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 12th November.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit at BEIS. Please remember to quote the reference number above
in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit | Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy | 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET | www.gov.uk/beis |
[email address] |

FOI Requests, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Mills,

Please find attached our response to your information request, our reference FOI2018/22100.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information Rights Unit at BEIS.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Unit
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
www.gov.uk/beis

show quoted sections

Dear FOI Requests,

You responded to my FOI request:

“The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) requires further information in order to identify and locate the information you have requested. In particular, it would be helpful if you could clarify what you mean by “the government” and “BEIS”. By “the government” do you mean civil servants or ministers from any government department and by “BEIS” do you mean civil servants or ministers from BEIS?”

My inquiry relates to the relationship between the document “. THE BEIS ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE PUBLIC ATTITUDES TRACKER REVIEW Government response” to the consultation the BEIS issued dated 16th August 2018:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...

and the survey questions that were not asked in Wave 26 between “11 July to 17 July 2018”.

I read “Government response” to mean just that, but your inquiry suggests that the “response” may not have been made by the “Government”, i.e. ministers, but by civil servants? The correspondence I request is that which referred to and authorised removing the questions asked in July 2018 relating to shale gas when the “Government response” was not issued by BEIS until 16th August 2018, whether it was between ministers/BEIS or between civil servants under the guise of “Government”.

Thank you for your attention to my request.

Yours sincerely,
Maureen Mills

BEIScorrespondence@beis.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Requests, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

BEIS ref: FOI2018/23862

Dear Ms Mills

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 5th
November. Your request has been passed on to the appropriate official at
the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to deal
with.

Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 3rd December.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit at BEIS. Please remember to quote the reference number above
in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit | Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy | 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET | www.gov.uk/beis |
[email address] |

FOI Requests, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Mills

Please see the attached letter regrading your request - BEIS FOI2018/23862.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information Rights Unit at BEIS.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights & Records Unit
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
www.gov.uk/beis

show quoted sections

FOI Requests, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

5 Attachments

Dear Ms Mills,

Please find attached our response to your information request, our reference FOI2018/23862.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information Rights Unit at BEIS.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Unit
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
www.gov.uk/beis

show quoted sections

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Maureen Mills please sign in and let everyone know.