Don’t miss out on funding to support decarbonisation plans

Phase 4 of The Low Carbon Skills Fund (LCSF) sees £17 million available to help decarbonisation strategies. Applications can be submitted from 26th April via the Salix portal - it’s likely to be fully subscribed quickly!

The LCSF provides grants for public sector organisations to engage specialist skills to help them do the following:

  1. Develop or improve an existing heat decarbonisation plan.
  2. Develop standalone detailed designs to reach at least RIBA Stage 3, where the applicant already has an approved heat decarbonisation plan (HDP).
  3. Combine options 1 and 2 where there is an approved HDP on which to develop standalone detailed designs for a building, but there is also a requirement to develop or improve a heat decarbonisation plan for a different building(s) within the estate.

The £17 million up for grabs in Phase 4 is split into value caps to ensure funding is distributed evenly across a range of grant values. The maximum grant is £1m, with funding divided into the following value ranges:

  • 34% of the funding will be allocated to applications below £100,000
  • 38% of the funding will be allocated to applications between £100,001 and £500,000
  • 28% of the funding will be allocated to applications above £500,000.

Why is this important?

It will fund extra resources to get your decarbonisation plans literally ‘off the ground’. Successful Phase 4 recipients, especially in relation to 2 and 3, will be in pole position to apply for Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) funding later this year to deliver the upgrade work they need.

What happens next?

Applications open from 2pm on 26 April and can be submitted by public sector organisations on Salix’s online portal. However, as the clock is ticking, they can also use the skill sets of companies like Willmott Dixon to help prepare the application and make sure it receives funding.

This is important as an application requires key information. This includes cost of the proposal, a procurement plan and details about how it will delivered. Willmott Dixon’s decarbonisation experts can provide this, as well as help scope and cost the detailed design, to get the most value from the HDP, and provide clear timelines for delivery. Importantly, given the time constraints, we can be ready to start the delivery phase as soon as funding is secured.

To benefit from our team’s experience of the funding process, drop us a line here.

Links to relevant information

  • Phase 4 LCSF Guidance Notes – link
  • Guidance on preparing your Phase 4 LCSF application – link
  • Phase 4 LCSF Supplementary Building Information– link