Labour Manifesto recognises the need for planning policy changes and the critical role of the data centres sector

Teased at London Tech Week by Peter Kyle, Labour's Shadow Science Secretary - who referred during his speech to techUK 2020 market report "The UK Data Centre Sector - The most important industry you’ve never heard of", the manifesto contains good news for the data centres sector and digital infrastructure:

Data Centres Planning Policy: 

Labour aims to boost the UK's AI sector by removing planning barriers for new data centres, and designating major and critical data centre projects as "nationally important" so that ministers, rather than local councils, make planning decisions. This policy would facilitate the construction of data centres on brownfield sites around cities, overcoming previous blocks like the £2.5bn "hyperscale" data centre project halted last year.

While there isn't currently more detail, this is still a welcomed recognition for the sector that if we are to capitalise on the potential for AI, data centre development is going to be critical. With the growth of AI, demand for data centres can only increase exponentially and we all rely on data centre storage and processing power to run our daily lives and businesses.

Clean Power by 2030: 

Furthermore, data centres have long been subject to the challenges of power constraints in the UK. The announcement suggests large investments to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030, in collaboration with the private sector, as well as investment in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure we have the long-term energy storage

The techUK team have been working with Labour for almost two years to build up the party's connections with the industry, exchange ideas on possible policy announcements and share case studies of the incredible innovations that are happening across the UK's tech ecosystem. We have also been championing the sector and speaking to the press about these challenges and the need for policy change and investment in our National Grid. 

We will continue to engage with Labour regardless of the results of the upcoming General Election, to ensure further policy development takes into account the tech sector's input to ensure that significant potential economic growth that could be driven if the UK was able to secure some of the future demand becomes a reality. 

Read techUK's analysis of General Election 2024 manifesto commitments for infrastructure, energy, water and transport here.

Visit our techUK Election Hub here. 

Luisa C. Cardani

Head of Data Centres Programme, techUK

Luisa C. Cardani is the Head of the Data Centres Programme at techUK, aiming to provide a collective voice for UK operators and working with government to improve business environment for the data centres sector.

Prior to joining techUK, Luisa worked in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as the Head of International Data Protection, where she led on the development of elements of the UK's data protection and privacy policy. In her role, she was also the UK official representative for the EOCD Privacy Guidelines Informal Advisory Group.

She has held a number of position in government, including leading on cross-cutting data provisions in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and in high priority cross-departmental projects when working in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

She holds an M.Sc. from University College London's Department of Political Sciences.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

07587 210 799

Website:

www.techUK.org

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisacardani

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Neil Ross

Associate Director, Policy, techUK

As Associate Director for Policy Neil leads on techUK's public policy work in the UK. In this role he regularly engages with UK and Devolved Government Ministers, senior civil servants and members of the UK’s Parliaments aiming to make the UK the best place to start, scale and develop a tech business.

Neil joined techUK in 2019 to lead on techUK’s input into the UK-EU Brexit trade deal negotiations and economic policy. Alongside his role leading techUK's public policy work Neil also acts as a spokesperson for techUK often appearing in the media and providing evidence to a range of Parliamentary committees.

In 2023 Neil was listed by the Politico newspaper as one of the '20 people who matter in UK tech' and has regularly been cited as a key industry figure shaping UK tech policy. 

Email:

[email protected]

Twitter:

@neil13r

Website:

www.techuk.org/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilross13/

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Teodora Kaneva

Head of Smart Infrastructure and Systems, techUK

Teodora’s rich background varies from working in business development for a renewable energy lobbying association in Brussels to the fast moving technology innovation startup scene in the UK.

She has designed the market strategy for a German renewable energy engineering scale up for the UK, listed on Nasdaq private market, and now one of the fastest growing scale ups in the world. Previous experience also includes managing a renewable energy startup in London, which has built a small-scale biomass CHP power plant. Teodora is passionate about cross-industry collaboration and working together with academia to inform the design of future educational models and skill building.

Most recently Teodora has ran the commercial activities and business development at Future Cities Catapult, focusing on innovation in cities, digital health and wellbeing, mobility, and infrastructure. Teodora is a passionate STEM Ambassador and a vocal advocate for women in tech.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

020 7331 2016

Twitter:

@Teodora_K

Website:

www.techuk.org

LinkedIn:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/teodora-k-2969b021

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