# UK datacentre developers must navigate responsibilities split across departments

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/want-to-build-a-uk-datacenter-please-hold-while-whitehall-transfers-you/
- Published: 2026-10-25T10:39:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T10:47:31+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/10/25/want-to-build-a-uk-datacenter-please-hold-while-whitehall-transfers-you/5304956
- Topics: Art, Culture, Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- Datacentre responsibilities are split across several departments.
- Power access can be a major obstacle to construction.
- The £45 billion figure was a long-term estimate, not a target.

## Summary

Plans to build a UK datacentre can require dealing with several government departments, as responsibilities for datacentre policy, telecoms, energy and planning are split across Whitehall and local authorities. A minister told MPs the roles were clear, while acknowledging some overlap; the division matters because companies need to coordinate approvals and secure power.

After the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was abolished, datacentre industry liaison moved to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, while digital infrastructure and telecoms sit with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Energy supply is handled by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and planning permission by local government, under national policy from the housing ministry. The article cites Microsoft’s withdrawal from plans for the UK’s largest AI supercomputer after power difficulties, and a minister’s clarification that the government’s earlier £45 billion estimate referred to long-term productivity gains, not a savings target or cashable sum.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.