Written question asked by Lee Anderson (Reform UK) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

Data Centres: Location

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what criteria his Department has for deciding on locations for data centres.

Answer: The Government does not determine locations for individual data centres. Decisions on where to locate data centres are made by developers, taking account of factors such as access to power, connectivity, land availability, environmental considerations, and local planning policy. The Government’s AI Growth Zones (AIGZ) programme supports projects in areas with the energy, land and infrastructure needed to support future AI and data centre investment, while ensuring impacts on local communities and the environment are appropriately considered.

Secondary information