public sector

Minister insists responsibilities are clear as construction, telecoms, and energy fall under separate departments

Building a UK datacenter spans three government departments: one handles datacenter policy, another telecoms, and a third energy.

MPs this week explored what Prime Minister Andy Burnham's summer reshuffle means for businesses navigating Whitehall.

Liz Lloyd, parliamentary under-secretary of state, sits across two departments with a portfolio of responsibilities as long as a weekly shopping list. She explained to MPs this week that, following the decision to get rid of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), liaison with the tech industry on datacenter construction fell to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST).

Lloyd, who works across BIST and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), went on to explain that digital infrastructure sits within DCMS.

Speaking to the House of Commons Science and Technology…