Ministers Met 137 Firms on AI Datacentres, No Green Groups
The UK's policy on datacentres and artificial intelligence was developed without a single meeting with environmental groups, an investigation has found. The nonprofit Spotlight on Corruption says senior officials met 137 businesses, but only two community groups.
The organisation filed 40 freedom of information requests to 18 government bodies over 12 months. They covered meetings and investment figures linked to "AI growth zones", between July 2024 and June 2026. Ministers, permanent secretaries and directors general met companies, some of them several times, to discuss the policy.
A revolving door
Spotlight on Corruption describes a "considerable revolving door". Between July 2024 and September 2026, 38 ministers, senior civil servants and special advisers took jobs at AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic. Nine of them came from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, among them a former minister for AI and intellectual property and a former AI adviser to the prime minister.
The growth zones were meant to "turbocharge the economy" by building large datacentres across five regions. The report says the few meetings held with civil society groups took place a few days before the policy launched, so had no meaningful input. It adds that many meetings with business were probably never disclosed, because the policy was led by special adviser Jade Leung, whose role faced less stringent transparency rules.
Kamila Kingstone, a campaign lead at the group, said: "The government totally failed at the most senior level to speak to environmental NGOs or community groups when developing its flagship policy on AI datacentres."
Comparison and response
The investigation also looked at Canada, Germany and Australia. It found they consulted far more widely and set more stringent environmental criteria, and said the UK had "fallen behind equivalent jurisdictions".
MP Chi Onwurah said the backlash in Britain, and the larger one in the US, was a warning that the government needed to seek greater community input. Campaigners have protested against planned datacentres from Auchtertool, near Edinburgh, to Brick Lane in east London.
A government spokesperson said datacentres should create British jobs and deliver benefits for host communities while prioritising clean power and responsible water use. The spokesperson added that for most proposals community benefits are considered through local planning, and that councils hosting datacentres in AI growth zones in England will keep all the extra business rates they generate.
Source: The Guardian