Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to promote the optimisation of water use in data centres to reduce their environmental impact.

As set out in the National Data Strategy, better use of data has the potential to help solve climate change problems and move the UK towards meeting net zero targets.

The Government regularly engages with data centre operators and other relevant data infrastructure providers to understand the steps they are taking to ensure sector resilience, optimise resources, and to reduce their environmental impact. The Government’s Plan for Water also sets out how businesses can play a role in reduced water consumption and increased water efficiency.