Guest blog: What does Labour's win mean for the data centre sector

Guest blog: What does Labour's win mean for the data centre sector?

Now that the expectations of pollsters and pundits have largely been met and a Labour government is taking office with a very significant majority, we can anticipate that the new administration will be keen to demonstrate that it is delivering on its promises to the electorate by implementing some of the more urgent manifesto commitments at speed. This will be music to the ears of data centre developers and operators as top of the list is the reform of the planning system.

Anybody trying to navigate a large, complex, commercial project through the planning process will be familiar with the delays, the spurious conditions and the other multitudinous frustrations that are part and parcel of submitting a planning application in the UK. The situation is even worse for data centres because there is no strategic guidance for planners from central government - the document that would provide this, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), is silent on data centres. Despite years of lobbying and vague undertakings from previous administrations, nothing has changed - until now. The difference today is that data centres were mentioned explicitly in the Labour Party's election manifesto, which committed to simplifying planning for development projects. So, while it is a pleasant surprise for the sector to be name-checked in an election manifesto for the first time, the really good news is that we can expect revision of the NPPF in the short to medium term, with the possibility of a Ministerial statement of intent in the interim.

The manifesto went one step further by linking the desire for the UK to be a centre of excellence for AI with the underlying digital infrastructure that is needed to make that a reality. While facilitating AI is a cross party ambition, others have consistently failed to associate this objective with the facilities that will host it, the land that will be needed to accommodate it, the energy that will power it, the planning reform that will enable it and the skilled people who will deliver it. So, this acknowledgement is a significant step forward, and by recognising the critical role data centres play in supporting AI and digital innovation, the manifesto highlights an understanding of the interdependence between cutting-edge technology and robust infrastructure.

However, the commitments on energy present a more complex challenge. While the manifesto outlines ambitious energy policies, the creation of a Great British Energy Company suggests a lot of upheaval and reorganisation that may be productive in the long term but is unlikely to address the sector's immediate need for reliable and sustainable power. So, this is an area where we will need to hold the new government's feet to the fire, to ensure they deliver meaningful change.

That said, even if we are yet to be convinced on energy supply, our new Labour government has clearly recognised the infrastructural and economic importance of data centres and promised to overhaul planning, so in the words of that well-known guru and philosopher, Meatloaf, "two out of three ain't bad."