Burnham Won’t Pause UK Data Centres Despite Job Overstatement Report
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declined to back a moratorium on new UK data centres, arguing that communities should benefit from their presence. This statement came in response to a Labour MP’s query regarding potential job losses and misinformation associated with AI deployment.
Burnham emphasized the importance of local advantages, citing the government’s AI Growth Zones policy, which allows councils to keep business rates growth. He mentioned specific data centre projects in his constituency, raised by MP Ian Lavery, who sought regulation to address concerns.
On the same day, Verdant think tank released a policy briefing suggesting that planned UK data centres will create approximately a quarter of the permanent jobs the industry forecasts. They disagree with TechUK’s job estimates, claiming their method overstates the impact.
Verdant’s Findings:
- Existing UK data centres support around 4,400 direct jobs, significantly lower than TechUK’s estimate of 24,300.
- For planned sites, Verdant projects approximately 10,400 permanent operational jobs by 2035, using a weighted average of 1.6 jobs per megawatt.
- One notable site in Lavery’s constituency, the QTS campus at Cambois, is expected to create about 400 permanent jobs, according to government figures cited in the Verdant report.
The briefing compares data centres to other large electricity users, highlighting disparities in job creation per megawatt. While existing data centres support around 8.6 direct jobs/MW (according to Verdant’s estimate), this figure jumps to 47.3 based on TechUK’s methodology. Steelworks, in contrast, support approximately 291 jobs/MW.