Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternative funding models for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme including introducing a long-term funding across financial years.

Funding allocations for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme are determined as part of the Government’s wider Spending Reviews.

The structure of funding provided through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was assessed when designing the scheme and is reviewed regularly, including ahead of new phases of the scheme being implemented.

Phase 3a, which opened for applications in October 2021, had a budget of £475m for the first year (Financial Year 2022/23), of which 15% was ring-fenced for multi-year projects. As a result, £80 million has also been committed to these multi-year projects from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 budgets. In the next Phase (3b), the remaining budget for Financial Year 2023/24 will be allocated and, recognising the high demand for multi-year funding, 50% of the remaining funds available in Financial Year 2024/25 will be available. Phase 3b is due to open for applications in October 2022.