Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of large-scale AI data centres on the availability of agricultural land for food production.

The expansion of AI infrastructure is critical to the UK's long-term economic growth, resilience, and global competitiveness. This Government is working with industry to improve understanding of the demand for agricultural land.

National planning policy gives clear preference for development sited on brownfield, industrial, contaminated, or previously developed land. Where development of agricultural land is necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land.

The Land Use Framework included a clear, long-term commitment to maintain overall food production in England while increasing resilience to climate change and safeguarding our best and most versatile agricultural land.