Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department made an environmental impact assessment of the data centre in Blyth before the investment by Blackstone was announced.

Construction on Blackstone’s chosen site for its £10bn data centre investment in Blyth will be subject to securing appropriate planning permission. As part of the planning process, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) are carried out by applicants where a development is considered to have significant impacts on the environment. Whether a full EIA is required is a decision for the Local Planning Authority in the first instance.