As many of you are already aware, Britain is home to the largest data centre sector in Europe, with upwards of 555 data centres already operating. These are providing the platform for us to be a world leader in the development of artificial intelligence which is a key growth sector for us.
Data centres house networked computer servers, digital storage systems and networking hardware used to store, process and distribute ever increasing amounts of digital information. From the NHS to air traffic control, finance, banking and supermarket supply chains as well as all our personal smartphone usage, apps, social media and storage, video and music streaming videos, online shopping, buying train, plane and concert tickets and more, we all, in reality, rely on digital infrastructure and that need is only growing.
As the government and industry scale-up our artificial intelligence capabilities to compete with the United States, China and the European Union, we shall need to increase our data centre sector, too. The growth of data centres needed to support emerging technologies such as AI that will shape and grow the economies of tomorrow will simply be built elsewhere if we do not allow them in Britain. However, I am very clear AI infrastructure must not be allowed to compromise our public water supplies.
The Labour Government must, therefore, balance supporting AI infrastructure operations and growth while protecting water supplies for people, farming and our food security, livestock and wildlife, and the environment more widely. The majority of existing data centres – and half of those in planning – are around London and the Southeast, already one of the most severely water stressed regions in the country. So there are a lot of competing needs and I recognise people are understandably anxious especially as we experience repeated heatwaves, hosepipe bans and now drought warnings. I also appreciate people are worried about water supplies in relation to the number of major housing developments being pushed by this Labour government in our area.
I do understand AI infrastructure is subject to the UK’s environmental and planning frameworks, which require the assessment of impacts such as energy use, water consumption, land use and local environmental factors, including those which will apply through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project route. In addition, the Labour Government has a responsibility to ensure it considers how to manage the demands of AI and data centres in a way that is sustainable and stable. I also appreciate that the sector itself is innovating and investing in technologies that allow for growth without placing unnecessary pressure on local water resources. However, AI development must not threaten our green belt and all water consumption, including by data centres, must be considered in the UK’s environmental and planning frameworks and I am concerned that Water UK (the industry trade association) was reported in the Telegraph on the 14th of August 2026 as having said,
‘We desperately want to supply the water that data centres need. That will become impossible because the UK Government explicitly excludes them from its water planning framework for England’
Alongside this, an Environment Agency report published last year warned that lack of transparency from operators made it ‘impossible to accurately measure, manage or regulate AI’s water impact.’
In the House of Lords debate on this subject on the 8th of July 2025, the Lord Bishop of Oxford opened by saying,
‘the Government have a dedicated energy council, but there is, as yet, no similar provision for water, no formal record of all the current data centres or the water they use and no public criteria for assessing new proposals such as the one in Culham in Oxfordshire. Does the Minister agree that water demand and supply in AI growth zones is a pressing problem? Do the Government have any plans to establish an AI and water task force and will it have representation from local communities?’
Speaking on behalf of the Labour Government, Lord Vallance acknowledged that,
‘water is a very large issue for data centres, as they consume large amounts of it. There are now technologies that reduce that use, such as recirculation of water. The AI growth zone proposals are required to set out water use—the volume of water required, the availability of that volume, the timeline of delivery and any wider infrastructure requirements or constraints—and they must work with the water provider to do that. Applications must confirm the above from the relevant water supplier and include any other associated impacts. A working group on sustainability has also been set up under the AI Energy Council.’
He also said,
‘The Government are actively monitoring the data centre sector and published the first government estimate of data centre capacity on 1 May, including measures indicating energy use. As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of the public water supply by 20% by 2037-38, Defra is examining how the efficiency of water use in data centres can be improved and the Environment Agency is working to improve the understanding of water and resilience needs.’
Data Centres: Energy and Water Consumption - Hansard - UK Parliament
I now understand the EU already requires data centres to share data about their water usage – asking them to release their freshwater consumption figures and this would clearly be a useful tool for us here in the UK to understand patterns of consumption. I am concerned that the government’s future water planning framework currently excludes datacentres from its demand forecasts.
My colleague, Mark Pritchard MP, asked this question on the 9th of June 25:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of water consumption by data storage centres on (a) consumer and (b) agricultural water supplies.
Emma Hardy MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at the time, replied,
’Datacentre water consumption varies considerably based on their size and cooling method. There is currently no requirement for data centres to report on their water consumption, so an accurate assessment of their impact on water supplies to consumers and agriculture is difficult. We are working with datacentres and their trade associations to understand their impact and identify opportunities to improve reporting and water efficiencies in their design.’
With regard to housing, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con) and an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Water Group asked,
‘Does the Minister share my concern that data centres are being built and expanded very close to major new housing developments in areas of deep water stress? What is the Government’s policy to ensure that households, as well as the data centres concerned, will have sufficient drinking water and sufficient evacuation of wastewater sewage?’
Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab), speaking for the Government, replied,
‘The proposal process for AI growth zones, which is where the big data centres will be placed, started in early February and ended at the end of February. Over 50 proposals have come forward, each of which needs to deal specifically with water in relation to the local environment and local plans, and to plan that with the water company.’
I understand Ofgem is now rightly considering reforms to allow projects that would place large demand on the grid such as data centres to build and own their own grid connections. I fully agree with the Shadow Energy Secretary, Claire Coutinho, that we should allow data centres to build their own grid connections and power supply from gas or small modular reactors, which would come at no cost to the British taxpayer and offer the security of supply only conventional, non-intermittent means of electricity generation, such as gas and nuclear, can provide.
However, while I and my colleagues in the Conservative Party do support the building of data centres as being crucial for the UK’s economic growth and global competitiveness, I believe it is clear this Labour Government is not prepared to meet the serious challenges of growing data centre energy and water demand.
The solution to data centre energy demand is for the Government to drop its unfeasible net zero targets and focus on increasing the supply of energy instead, and I shall therefore continue urging Ministers to adopt the Opposition's Cheap Power Plan to lower energy costs for businesses by 20 per cent and allow data centres to meet their own energy demand.
With regard to more local water supplies and resilience, as many of my constituents know all too well, here in our East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency, and across the Southeast of England more generally, we are incredibly water-stressed. In fact, as I have probably mentioned before, I am told we are as water-stressed as Morocco. We experience repeated water outages and ongoing problems and pressures around water pipe connectivity, bulk sharing contracts, Weirwood Reservoir continuing to be ‘out of order’, leaks and burst pipes. The reality of aging infrastructure and growing needs due to significant increases to our population and housing stock, changes to how and where we work (WFH) and climate change mean restoring the water treatment works to full operational capacity is vital along with other major infrastructure upgrades in our locality. As well as households, our many rural businesses, farms, vineyards, garden centres, nurseries, growers and small holdings all depend on a sustainable and stable supply of water to function and thrive. As do the growing number of data centres.
So, the issues around water that I have been working on, and discussing with stakeholders, SE Water amongst them, have been focussed on addressing water scarcity, supply and resilience in the long term, as well as plans for better and quicker emergency responses, communications and compensation routes in the short term. While these discussions have been focused, in the main, on the demands made by current and future housing, it is very clear the government’s ambition to treble UK datacentre capacity by 2030 also needs to be contended with and meaningful provision for water factored in.
We surely can’t keep lurching from one crisis to the next hoping we will always have enough water to get by and I have spoken in debates, in the House and asked multiple questions as my colleagues and I keep pressing this Government to ensure it prioritises improving our water resilience, which will, of course, need to include improving water efficiency and reducing leaks. It is essential this Labour Government do more than consider the vital importance of our water supply infrastructure, such as reservoirs, and regulations, such as building standards – water security at local and national levels – they need to act now to secure plentiful and reliable supplies for the future.
Please be assured this are issues I will continue to raise on behalf of my constituents.
