On Wednesday 21 July, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced the availability of further government grants to allow public sector organisations to develop Heat Decarbonisation Plans under the Low Carbon Skills Fund to be administered by Salix Finance.

Phase 2 of the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund provides £11.5 million of grant funding for eligible public sector organisations (including schools), with the Application Portal opening at 14:00 on Wednesday 28 July 2021, as well as £3.5 million of grant funding for maintained and academy schools only, with the Application Portal opening at 14:00 on Monday 13 September 2021.

As of Monday 2 August, Salix Finance announced that it had received a total of 338 applications valued at £34,795,250. The applications will be reviewed by Salix for quality and completeness checks. If you applied and are unsuccessful, or were unable to put in an application within the very tight deadlines, contact us for support in preparing for the September application window (grant maintained and academy schools only), or anticipated future rounds of funding.

Why is a Heat Decarbonisation Plan important?
It is critical that organisations proactively take action to mitigate climate change. These funding schemes will provide you with a decarbonisation plan so that you can develop and understand the steps and proposed timeline for decarbonising the buildings in your portfolio. These plans will support organisations to access future funding pots for decarbonisation and benefit from a range of energy efficiency measures. Further information about the need to decarbonise is available in our guide here.

Why choose Briar (part of the Zenergi group) to support your application for Salix funding?
Briar has been advising organisations on energy saving, cost reduction and carbon compliance for over 30 years. During this time, we have worked closely with Salix Finance and supported a number of clients with successful funding bids. We have designed and project managed the associated work and delivered significant energy and carbon savings to clients. Our team of experienced and qualified Chartered Energy Engineers are trusted to deliver expert advice and to support clients in achieving their objectives.

For Phase 1 of the scheme we supported a number of organisations to access funding, including two large County Councils where we delivered Heat Decarbonisation Plans for over 250 sites. During the surveys for Heat Decarbonisation Plans we identify technologies that will ensure the new building services represent value for money, are inherently low carbon in design, therefore also offering the following benefits:

• User friendliness, controllability and excellent comfort conditions.
• Reliability and continuity of building/services operation.
• Significantly reduced long-term energy consumption and carbon emissions.
• Reduced maintenance

Next steps
If you would like to understand more about engaging our services, please email chris@zenergi.co.uk who will ensure your request is picked up immediately by an experienced consultant.

These funding schemes have been highly oversubscribed, and funding is quickly allocated, requiring swift action. We are well placed to act quickly on your behalf and to work with you to deliver the Heat Decarbonisation Plan and any associated building improvements.