North West Energy Task Force

NWETF logo

This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project

The North West Energy Task Force (NWETF) was a lobby group aimed to encourage local businesses in the north west of England to become part of the supply chain for the shale gas industry.

Officially:

'The North West Energy Task Force is charged with understanding how the responsible extraction of natural gas from Lancashire’s shale can be used to create jobs, generate economic growth and boost local revenues.'

Supporters

Funded by Cuadrilla Resources and Centrica, NWETF claimed that 'however our activities and views are independent of our financial supporters'.

Meetings with government

See [Freedom of Information (FOI)correspondence or meetings between the North West Energy Task Force and Defra ministers or staff -including special advisers- between 1 September 2013 and 30 September 2014], released December 2014, which reveal correspondence with special adviser Guy Robinson.

People

SME panel

• Marcus Addison - Managing director of Addison Group
• Clair Smith - President of StayBlackpool
• Martin Long - Chair of Blackpool Leadership Group
• Philip Hargreave - Chief executive of Inteb Sustainability
• Gary Lovatt - Regional Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses
• Steve Pye - Chairman of Lancashire TV; former Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses
• Frank McLaughlin - Retired commercial director
• Michael Damms - CEO of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce
• Babs Murphy - Chief executive of the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce
• Bernard Whittle - Former Lancashire County Council member
• John Kersey - Former chairman of the Lancashire branch of the Institute of Directors
• Lee Petts - managing director of Remsol, chairman of the Lancashire branch of the Institute of Directors
• Rob Green - Independent governor of Edge Hill University
• Sean Lord - Director of Lytham Technology
• Nick Campbell - Risk Manager at Inspired Energy PLC
• Peter Whitehead - Managing director of Whiteheads Solicitors

Agricultural panel

• Jack Wright
• Timothy Laycock
• John Loftus
• James Harrison

Lobbying firms

• Westbourne Communications, handled by senior account executive Tom Evans, who previously worked for Jim Fitzpatrick, a former Labour minister for transport and Defra. The firm appears to have produced NWETF'sExploring Shale Series.

Publications

• What does shale extraction mean for farming and agriculture in the North West?, The Exploring Shale Series, [undated] 2014

Resources

See: Fracking lobbying firms

See: Fracking Spads

• Melissa Jones and Andy Rowell, Access all areas: Westminster's (vast) fracking lobby exposed, 29 April 2015.
• Video: Meet the Frackers: a Spinwatch lobbying tour, Spinwatch | YouTube, 16 January 2017.