Labor Party to build data centers in green belt

Party leader Keir Starmer is keen to promote the use of artificial intelligence technology in public services. Photo: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Labour plans to overturn councils' decisions to build data centers in the green belt as Sir Keir Starmer's opposition seeks to boost Britain's artificial intelligence industry.

Peter Kyle, the shadow minister for science, innovation and technology, is understood to be considering classifying data centers as nationally significant infrastructure projects in a bid to get around opposition from Nimbys.

It comes amid warnings of a data center shortage in the UK to meet growing demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

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Easing planning requirements is likely to lead to more applications for data centers in the green belt, industry sources say.

These are expected to be concentrated largely around the West London «data corridor», which is the world's largest data hub. outside the US.

Operators say brownfield sites in greenbelts around cities are among the only possible locations to build the larger, modern data centers needed to serve urban populations.

If data center projects are deemed nationally important, planning decisions will be made by ministers rather than councils.

Last year plans to build Britain's largest «hyperscale» data center with a promised investment of £2. £5 billion was blocked by green belt protection.

This was partly because it spoiled views from bridges over the M25. 

The project's developer blamed what he called «green belt theology» for the decision. Other critics said the decision represented the need for planning reform. 

Mr Kyle held a series of meetings with major data center investors during a visit to the US West Coast earlier this year, including Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle.

Problems in securing planning Permission to open data centers in Britain appears to be a key issue raised by Microsoft, which is spending billions of dollars to build data centers amid an artificial intelligence boom.

Both Microsoft and Google announced new data center projects in the UK, but the labor-intensive planning process caused widespread disappointment. industry.

Once completed, large data centers typically support hundreds of construction jobs and a small number of permanent staff.

They are critical to the powerful AI services that Labor is counting on to reduce NHS waiting times and improve public services if successful in the general election.

The opposition is keen to focus increasingly on the opportunities created by technology, given the constraints on spending.

It is understood that Darren Jones, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, is working closely with Mr Kyle and Pat McFadden, the party chief. coordinator of a national campaign to identify areas where AI could be deployed in Whitehall.

The trio are working closely together as part of efforts to improve productivity growth, particularly in healthcare, where costs are predicted to continue to rise amid an aging population

Sources said the schemes are already being trialled in four hospitals in Wales, including using AI to accurately predict when patients are ready to be discharged.

«There's really no money left this time, so they'll have to take a different approach to government spending,» one source said.

Mr Kyle is expected to meet tech companies on Monday at Imperial College London. to drum up support ahead of London Technology Week, an annual series of events celebrating the capital's digital sector.

The government published a consultation in December that considered data centers as critical national infrastructure, although its response to calls for evidence was not published.

TechUK, the technology industry lobby group, called for a review of planning laws for construction support, pointing out that existing rules do not mention data centers, which are classified as storage facilities such as warehouses.

Nationally significant infrastructure projects such as airports, power plants and road works are administered Planning inspections bypassing local authorities. authorities. 

Labour's shadow justice minister Shabana Mahmood told The Telegraph on Sunday that prisons would be designated as projects of national importance to support their construction.

Even if the data centers are not marked as Crucially, Mr Kyle is believed to have told the technology industry that Labor will reform planning laws to allow more sites.