Draft National Policy Statement for Data Centres

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade are seeking views on the draft NPS for Data Centres. This NPS guides technical assessments, examinations by the Planning Inspectorate, and decisions made by the relevant Secretary of State on applications for development consent for data centres under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) consenting regime.

Data centre developers in England can now seek development consent under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime. The purpose of the draft National Policy Statement (NPS) is to:

• set out the policy and planning framework for the determination of applications for development consent for data centres that proceed through the NSIP consenting process
• provide the criteria for the Secretary of State (SoS) to make fair, robust, and transparent decisions on whether to approve applications for development consent for data centres
• inform applicants on what needs to be considered in making an application, including the impacts and assessments required, the criteria that will be considered, and how the planning balance will be applied

Alongside the NPS, we are publishing 2 impact assessments, which have been developed by independent experts. These are the:

• Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS) and its non technical summary
• Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)