Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential impact of increased data processing on water usage before the investment by Blackstone in a data centre in Blyth 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, applicants may be required to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) which may include an assessment of any issues around water scarcity and pollution, if it is considered that these could be impacted by the development. Whether a full EIA is required is a decision for the Local Planning Authority in the first instance.