Data Centres: Water Resources

Lord Trees Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Clearly, the planning system is key to this. The very large data centres need to go through the NSIP—nationally significant infrastructure project—programme of planning, which also looks at full consultation. So there is a lot of interest; a lot of considerations are fully taken into account on the particularly large data centres. Clearly, like any major infrastructure, it will have an impact in a number of areas. We need to ensure that we get the balance right.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, I am reliably informed that data can be sent through fibre-optic cables at the speed of light. Can the Minister tell us why we are putting, and planning to put, most of our data centres in the south and east of the United Kingdom when the vast majority of our water resources, and, indeed, most of our energy resources, are in the north and west of the United Kingdom?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I can certainly confirm that the north-west, where I live, has been particularly damp this year, unlike the rest of the country. I think that looks to the bigger question: how are we going to look at our water infrastructure over the coming decades? There are parts of the country, like where I live, that do not have water shortages, where there is still rain, and other parts where there is nothing. It is important that we consider as a country how best to use our water resources more broadly. Where do we need to build reservoirs? How do we support farmers in holding water, for example? The water usage question is a bigger part of that, as is the question of where we build our different infrastructure.