Schools could be forced to abandon plans to go green after the government quietly ditched its £80 million low-carbon skills fund to help leaders draw up applications to access emissions-cutting cash.
The LCSF has been axed this year, having allocated sums to hundreds of schools since 2020.
The LCSF helps organisations to pay experts for plans to be used in complicated applications for the multi-billion-pound public sector decarbonisation scheme (PSDS).
Academy funding consultant Tim Warneford believes the decision will leave some cash-strapped schools unable to afford PSDS bids and likely to “miss out”.
“For schools already facing tight budgets and rising costs, the removal of LCSF effectively shifts the burden of upfront investment onto institutions that may simply be unable to absorb it.
“In the absence of this early-stage funding, the pipeline of well prepared and justified applications is likely to diminish, potentially stalling or weakening progress on the decarbonisation of heating systems within buildings.”
‘Uncertainty’
Launched in 2020 and run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the LCSF gave public bodies funds to “engage the specialist and expert advice and skills required to develop a heat decarbonisation plan”.
Guidance for the fund said this would put “organisations in a strong position to take the next steps” to go green and be better prepared to lodge PSDS applications.
Over £3 billion has been allocated for efficiency upgrades through PSDS in five years. Analysis suggests more than £80 million has been issued through LCSF across its five funding waves. Of this, just under £20 million has gone directly to schools.
However, the number of successful school applications has dropped from 271 to 55 in the latest round. Three academy trusts received sums in excess of £100,000, while three diocesan boards of education received more than £166,000.
Chloe Pett, of Surveyors to Education, noted the cancellation “has introduced uncertainty as to how schools can now access the expertise of low carbon professionals who can help them allocate existing resources for maximum benefit across their estates”.
Warneford added: “Without the funding to support a survey, [some] schools will not be able to afford such applications and so it is likely that many will now miss out.”
Schools might also decide to “proceed without the strategic input and detailed planning that LCSF provided”. This could lead to the creation of “poorly scoped” plans, resulting in “underperformance, cost overruns, increased operating costs or missed carbon savings”.
Sustainability goals ‘at risk’
The Department for Education set itself targets of slashing emissions by three-quarters by 2037, before going net zero in 2050. Among other things, it wants education settings to put in place climate action plans this year.
But National Audit Office bosses warned the DfE two years ago that its sustainability goals were at “risk of being deprioritised or traded off when making decisions”.
It found the department “does not know what contribution” its climate change schemes will have – even though education settings produce 37 per cent of public sector emissions.
The watchdog also argued that the department is failing to adequately fund green programmes – despite pledging to make the UK “a world leader in sustainability across the education system” two years ago.
DfE tender papers, seen by Schools Week, show it has asked companies to draw up feasibility reports for the creation of a “regional condition, decarbonisation and resilience service”.
It would provide “data collection, intervention prioritisation recommendations, procurement frameworks… estate management (including condition works) and decarbonisation activity in regions”.
Among other things, the department wants firms to examine how “private finance and other sources of funding at regional and national level can be incorporated to enhance the service offer”.
Emma Harrison, of leaders’ union ASCL, noted that the other resources available for schools “are strictly limited”.
She added: “With all education settings expected to have a climate action plan in place this year, you would hope the level of support available to help them achieve this would be increasing, not reducing.”
An energy department spokesperson said the LCSF “has overlapping support with other government schemes, and we have therefore decided to focus funding elsewhere”.
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