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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 23 September to Question 51406, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the phased approach Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to empower local authorities to think longer term about decarbonisation.

Funding allocations for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme are determined through the Government’s Spending Reviews. These are part of a well-established budgeting framework, carried out approximately every 3 years. This provides certainty for departments, enabling them to plan ahead while balancing the need for spending control and parliamentary oversight. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is reviewed regularly, including ahead of new phases of the scheme being launched.

The Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund has also made available £61 million of grant funding to empower the public sector, including local authorities, to take a strategic approach to decarbonising their estates.