Update on the Petition and Committees

The APRS Petition at the Scottish Parliament is now over 25,000 signatures and is due to be heard in the committee on 8th October. The Climate action Committee are doing an Inquiry that will be heard 29 October, when Kat will give evidence. And the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee heard evidence on energy and data centres.

Climate Action Committee Inquiry

The Climate Action Committee are doing an Inquiry into the environmental impacts of hyperscale data centres. They will be taking evidence in October and November and Kat of APRS has been invited to give evidence. The Committee have written to the Public Finance Minister asking for clarity on the strategic approach in the Programme for Government asking time scales for delivery, and how stakeholders and the public will be involved in the development of national planning and spatial guidance. They also will ask how Scottish Government will incorporate the wording from the motion as amended from the debate on 16th September.

Petitions Committee

The Scottish Government have published their response to the petition and Scottish Parliament Information Service have published a briefing.

Petition Text

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a moratorium to prohibit planning permission from being granted for any hyperscale data centres, until it has carried out a thorough assessment of their impacts on Scotland’s communities, greenhouse gas emissions, land and water resources and electricity grid; until regulations are modified to require all hyperscale AI data centres to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment; and until the Scottish Government puts in place guidance on hyperscale AI data centres and ‘green data centres’.

APRS response to the Government’s response to the Petition

SPICe Briefing

SPICe briefing ‘Moratorium on data centre development’:

The Scottish Government can introduce what is effectively a moratorium on new data centre development. This would
replicate existing policies of “no support” for new coal mines and oil and gas developments which employ hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Scotland.

These are not technically “bans” on applications for such developments. A developer
can submit a planning application for a new coal mine or fracking development which must be considered by the relevant planning authority, with decisions made in accordance with the development plan (National Planning Framework 4 and the relevant Local Development Plan), unless there are compelling reasons, “material considerations”, which indicate that the decision should be otherwise. A Scottish Government’s policy of “no support” for a particular type of development would likely be a material consideration.

Despite these policies of “no support”, a planning authority could potentially decide to grant permission for a new coal mine or fracking development. However, the Scottish Government has put administrative processes in place that require any authority minded to grant permission for a new coal mine or fracking development to first notify Scottish Ministers of their intention. This allows Scottish Ministers the opportunity to “call-in” the application for their own decision which, given their policy
of “no support”, would likely be exercised to refuse permission. Scottish Ministers normally only use their power to call-in an application for their own decision where it raises an issue of national importance, as set out in the Ministerial Statement on circumstances for call-in. There is no obvious barrier to the introduction of a policy of no support for new data centres and similar administrative arrangements for the handling of such applications as apply to coal mines and fracking developments.

Government Response to the Petition

The Government Response to the Petition, and something we have been hearing from ministers is that a Moratorium on data centres may not be lawful but the SPICe briefing sets that to rest. It says: