Westmorland and Furness Council has been awarded £370,000 to carry out a major decarbonisation assessment across all 69 schools for which the council has responsibility. This follows the successful application for a Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF) grant from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The grant, delivered by Salix, will support the council’s journey to becoming net zero by enabling energy efficiency and usage studies to be carried out at every council owned school. The assessment will investigate where changes and improvements could be made to increase the green credentials of buildings and how budget savings could be achieved on school energy costs.
Council officers undertook an extensive review to support the application, the results of which looked into energy usage at every school, through a combination of energy certificates, reports and physical assessments. They were able to draw on their experience from a previous project focusing on the council’s corporate properties, which helped their successful bid for this heavily oversubscribed funding source.
Cllr Peter Thornton, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Assets, said:
“We have 69 schools and we are concerned about the need to reduce the amount of carbon emitted from them.”
“We spend £4.3 million every year on maintenance and this study will allow us to understand the scale of funding needed to upgrade them for the benefit of pupils, staff and the environment when assessing funding opportunities.”
The final report is expected to outline proposals for improvements to the buildings through work such as better insulation and options for introducing renewable energy to help schools run more efficiently and reduce costs.
Westmorland and Furness Council will be going out to tender in the Autumn to produce a carbon management plan for each school by the end of March 2025.
Cllr Giles Archibald Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services said:
“To be successful in securing this substantial grant to support our journey to become more energy efficient and carbon net zero by 2037 is a huge achievement.”
“We have clear plans to get us there, through our Carbon Management Strategy and Climate Action Plan, but new initiatives and injections of funding such as this, means those plans can evolve and grow as we look at more ways to tackle the global issue of climate change.”
“The school decarbonisation review will enhance the work we are already doing and will help us in applying for further eco-funding as it is announced. I am confident that we can create a greener, healthier, more resilient Westmorland and Furness and continue to make it a great place to live, work and thrive.”
Salix programme manager for the Low Carbon Skills Fund Christopher Masters, said:
“Congratulations to Westmorland and Furness Council on the successful award of the grant. The Low Carbon Skills Fund makes a huge difference to organisations as they plan their journey to net zero.
“It means they can engage experts to help create heat decarbonisation plans so they can properly plan capital works for heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency works."
“In this case 69 schools will be impacted and hopefully those schools will go on and see works which will make a huge difference to those who use them as well as to the whole community they serve.”