Summary
- MSPs rejected the Scottish Greens’ proposal for an explicit moratorium on new hyperscale data centre applications.
- Amendments from the SNP and Scottish Labour were approved, with Labour’s wording stating that planning or consent decisions should wait until national guidance is completed.
- The Scottish Government has said new planning guidance will be produced by the end of 2026, alongside mandatory EIAs for projects above 50MW.
The Scottish Parliament has rejected a proposal for a formal moratorium on new hyperscale data centre applications while approving amended wording calling for national planning guidance and a pause on planning or consenting decisions until that work is completed.
The original motion, lodged by Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie, called for a moratorium on applications for new hyperscale data centres until a national strategy and updated planning guidance had been produced, taking account of cumulative energy demand and environmental effects.
MSPs did not approve that proposal in its original form. Amendments from the SNP and Scottish Labour were instead passed during the 16 September debate, changing the final parliamentary position.
The Labour amendment called for the Scottish Government to report to Parliament on national planning guidance by the end of 2026 and publish it in full within 12 months. It also stated that no decisions on planning or consenting for the relevant applications should be made until that process has been completed.
The Scottish Government’s amendment rejected the need for a blanket moratorium while supporting stronger environmental requirements and national planning and spatial guidance. Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad told MSPs that the government expected guidance to be issued before Christmas.
The result advances the position covered by DataCentral on 15 September, when Holyrood was preparing to debate the Green proposal.
Different routes to a temporary constraint
The distinction between the rejected moratorium and the amended parliamentary wording is material. The Greens sought an explicit stop on applications while a national strategy and planning guidance were developed. The wording adopted by Parliament instead focuses on how planning and consent decisions should be handled while guidance is being prepared.
Specialist reporting has characterised the outcome as a de facto temporary moratorium because the approved Labour amendment states that decisions should not be made until the guidance is complete. The Scottish Greens, by contrast, said the final position did not provide the unambiguous moratorium they had proposed.
Those interpretations reflect the difference between preventing applications from progressing at all and withholding final decisions while policy work continues. Developers can still undertake design, environmental, grid, consultation, and planning work, but the parliamentary wording introduces uncertainty over when qualifying schemes can reach a consent decision.
The debate also exposed differences between parties over the appropriate balance between investment and environmental controls. The Scottish Government argued that a blanket moratorium was unnecessary and could deter investment, while the Greens argued that a clearer halt was needed while the cumulative effects of large projects were assessed. Labour’s amendment added requirements around planning guidance, environmental standards, community impacts, and community benefit.
Guidance joins tighter environmental rules
The parliamentary debate coincided with a separate Scottish Government direction making environmental impact assessments mandatory for all proposed data centres exceeding 50MW of electrical capacity from 17 September.
That measure follows an August direction requiring planning authorities to notify ministers of applications for data centres above the same threshold within seven days of validation. Together, the measures give ministers greater visibility of the pipeline while imposing a mandatory environmental assessment requirement on the largest projects.
The planned national guidance is expected to add another layer by setting out how planning authorities should approach data centre proposals more consistently. Issues raised during the parliamentary debate included electricity demand, environmental standards, water use, community impacts, waste heat, economic benefits, and the definition of a hyperscale or green data centre.
The final detail has not yet been published, so developers do not yet have a complete national framework against which to design projects. The Scottish Government has committed to move the guidance forward before the end of the year.
Until then, the planning environment for large Scottish data centres remains in transition. Parliament has rejected an explicit moratorium, but its approved amendments place clear political pressure on decision-making while the national framework is being written, at the same time as the largest projects become subject to mandatory environmental assessment.
