National Infrastructure Projects: Devolution

Baroness O'Neill of Bexley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, there is hard evidence—we have just had a Conservative speaker.

[Baroness O’Neill of Bexley (Con)]

I did not get up quickly enough then, but I did this time.

[Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, there is plenty of time for both noble Lords. We have just heard a Conservative Member, so we will have Labour and then the Front Bench.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We now have the Planning and Infrastructure Act, which removes some of the obstacles that were causing delays in the planning system, but we have also recently republished the National Planning Policy Framework. It is now a much more straightforward, rules-based system of planning which we hope will make the planning system run more smoothly while removing some of the jeopardy around JRs and so on in the planning system. That, alongside investment in planning officers and the planning system, will make a real difference.

[Baroness O’Neill of Bexley (Con)]

My Lords, in January, the Government announced plans to allow data centres to opt in to the nationally significant infrastructure projects scheme. What are the Government doing to promote innovation in this area to increase their reliance on grey water rather than drinking water and the use of closed-loop cooling systems?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

Data centres are a useful example of why the planning system needs flexibility. Some data centres will go through the local planning routes and some will be NSIPs because of their scale, power requirements, economic role or resilience applications. The noble Baroness makes a very valid point around how we use grey water and so on, and how we can use the heat output from data centres for use in residential or commercial applications.