UK officials met 137 businesses but no environmental groups on AI datacentres, investigation finds

Businesses had extensive access to senior UK officials shaping AI datacentre policy, while environmental organisations had none, according to a Spotlight on Corruption investigation reported by the Guardian on October 27. Its findings challenge how the government developed its AI growth zones policy: officials met 137 businesses, but just two community groups.

The nonprofit examined meetings involving ministers, permanent secretaries and directors general between July 2024 and June 2026. Over 12 months, it filed 40 freedom of information requests with 18 government agencies, seeking meeting details and investment figures connected to the growth zones. Some businesses met officials several times; the headline figure counts businesses, not individual meetings.

National policy, narrow consultation

AI growth zones were a central part of former prime minister Keir Starmer’s AI and economic policy. The government promised jobs and economic growth through large datacentres across five regions. The plans aimed to enable facilities bigger than any previously built in Britain, often in partnership with US technology companies.

Spotlight on Corruption argues that access came too late for those outside industry to shape that policy. Although officials met a handful of civil society groups, those meetings happened only a few days before its launch. The organisation said that timing left them with no meaningful input and accused the government of failing to take environmental and social impacts seriously.

Government expertise moves into AI companies

The same investigation identified 38 ministers, senior civil servants and special advisers who took positions at AI companies between July 2024 and September 2026. Spotlight on Corruption described a “considerable revolving door” as the growth zones policy developed. Nine of those people had worked at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which helped shape Britain’s AI strategy.

The organisation also warned that its meeting findings did not capture all business access. It said further meetings would have gone undisclosed because special adviser Jade Leung led Starmer’s policy work. Her role faced less stringent transparency requirements than those applying to the senior officials whose meetings the investigation examined.

The government points to local planning

In its response, the government said datacentres should create British jobs, strengthen supply chains and benefit host communities while prioritising clean power and responsible water use. A spokesperson said meetings with companies were intended to secure those outcomes. The government also said it wanted to work closely with local authorities, environmental groups and communities, and welcomed their views.

For most proposed developments, the spokesperson said, community benefits are considered through local planning processes. The government pointed to measures already announced that would let English local authorities hosting datacentres in AI growth zones retain all the additional business rates generated. That response emphasised benefits at individual sites, while the investigation questioned access during national policymaking.

Spotlight on Corruption offered a comparison with Canada, Germany and Australia. Its investigation found that those countries consulted more widely on datacentre development and applied stricter environmental criteria. It concluded that Britain had fallen behind comparable jurisdictions in developing an equitable strategy.