The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answers on 1st September 2026:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the water usage requirements of large-scale data centres, particularly in times of drought.
Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab, DBSIT): The Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade engages regularly with relevant organisations such as DEFRA and the Environment Agency, recognising the need to ensure data infrastructure does not compromise the resilience of public water supplies.
The Government supports the adoption of efficient cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems and alternative water sources such as rainwater harvesting, and national planning policy embeds consideration of sustainable water use and resource efficiency in decision making. In 2025, a joint techUK-Environment Agency survey found that 51% of surveyed sites use closed loop cooling systems, and 64% use less than 10,000m³ of water per year.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of data centres on nearby protected nature sites, including the proposed Norwich Apex Data Centre in the River Yare valley in Norfolk.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab, DHCLG): Due to the quasi-judicial role of Ministers in the planning system, I am unable to comment on specific planning cases. By law planning applications are determined in accordance with the local development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that plans should identify, map and safeguard the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity. Furthermore, it sets out that planning policies and decisions should protect sites of biodiversity value in a manner commensurate with their statutory status or identified quality in the development plan.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on changes to the NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here(opens in a new tab) (and attached), included proposals relating to protected sites. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of data centres on local energy infrastructure, particularly during periods of extreme temperature.
Baroness Curran (Lab, DENZ): Energy resilience is a top priority for the Government, which works continuously with industry to improve and maintain the resilience of energy infrastructure to a range of risks, including extreme weather events.
The Government is committed to ensuring electricity networks can meet rising electricity demand, including from data centres, throughout the year.
Government is also looking at how AI can improve resilience in the network. AI offers a way to run the electricity grid more intelligently, shifting from overbuilding and manual intervention towards real-time risk management, autonomous optimisation and consumer-led flexibility.
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