South Kesteven District Council is continuing to pursue its ambition of cutting carbon emissions and is investigating grant opportunities to help achieve its goals.
The Cabinet Member for Commercial and Operations, Cllr Dr Peter Moseley, said: “We are determined to hit our target of reducing carbon emissions by at least 30% by 2030.
“There is a lot of competition for grants, equipment, supplies and contractors to carry out the work in a crowded market place which is confirmation, if any were needed, that we are doing the right thing.”
Supply chain pressures on the availability of equipment and qualified contractors mean deadlines to qualify for support from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) cannot be met.
The Council had received £950,000 from the scheme, but instead is now focusing on future funding rounds and other grants for improvements to the carbon efficiency of its buildings.
“While we are naturally disappointed to not be able to capitalise on this round of funding, it does not change our ambitions,” said Cllr Dr Peter Moseley.
“The very tight timescales to qualify for this grant, with work having to be completed by March 2022 at the very latest, has contributed significantly to the supply chain pressures.
“Additionally, we are aware that the availability of suitably qualified contractors to complete the project is at a premium at the moment. We had to take into account the possibility of exceeding the grant deadline imposed, meaning we may have needed to pay some or all of the money back at that stage.
“The work completed to date on reviewing the suitability of buildings for carbon reduction measures does, however, put us in a very strong position to bid into future funding streams for the work.”does, however, put us in a very strong position to bid into future funding streams for the work.”
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