Policy paper

Draft National Policy Statement for Data Centres

A draft framework for development consent decisions on data centres under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime.

• From: Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
• Published: 28 October 2026

Applies to England

Documents

Draft National Policy Statement for Data Centres

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6885-9, E03716693 10/26

Unnumbered act paper

PDF, 857 KB, 94 pages

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Details

The consultation on the Draft National Policy Statement for Data Centres is now live, and will close at 11:59pm on 8 January 2027.

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)