Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2026 [Draft]
Alan Brown will have heard my answers to previous questions on the issue of a cumulative assessment. We are taking a whole-system approach to understanding the full implications of data centre developments, including, as Alan Brown mentioned, the consideration of energy and water demands, potential economic benefits and the views of communities and local stakeholders.
Through continued engagement with the National Energy System Operator, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Water, we will look to ensure that data centre investment takes place in a resource-considerate manner, mitigating negative impacts and maximising positive impacts wherever possible—I mentioned some of those impacts in my answer to Mark Ruskell.
Although the Scottish Government is not currently undertaking a formal national assessment, we are working with partners to assess the impact of AI data centres and to look at whether current planning conditions are appropriate.