Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-15)

The Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund provides grants for public sector bodies to access skills and expertise to unlock heat decarbonisation on their estate.

The Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund provides grants for public sector organisations to engage the specialist and expert advice and skills required to develop a heat decarbonisation plan. Having a robust heat decarbonisation plan will put organisations in a strong position to take the next steps in decarbonising, including by enabling them to develop detailed project proposals that will help them to apply for any future grant funding for capital decarbonisation measures such as the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme. This means organisations can think more strategically and be better prepared for future decarbonisation opportunities.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-sector-decarbonisation-scheme) provides grants for public bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The DESNZ delivery body Salix Finance administers the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Visit the Salix Finance site (https://www.salixfinance.co.uk/) for more information about both of the schemes.

Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund in financial year 2025 to 2026

There will be no funding for the Low Carbon Skills Fund this financial year.

The Fund previously provided grants for public sector organisations to access expert advice and skills to help develop a heat decarbonisation plan for their estates.

We have concluded that as some similar support is available through other existing resources, this now allows funding to be focused elsewhere.

The Local Net Zero Hubs have dedicated teams in place to support public sector organisations with the development of strategy stage heat decarbonisation plans and strategic and technical advice on next steps. The Local Net Zero Hubs offer this support free of charge.

For more information see the hub websites and email addresses below:
- North East and Yorkshire (https://www.neynetzerohub.com/) – xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)
- North West (https://localenergynw.org/) – xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)
- Midlands (https://www.midlandsnetzerohub.co.uk/) – xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)
- South West (https://www.swnetzerohub.org.uk/) – xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)
- South East (https://www.gsenetzerohub.org.uk/) – xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance (https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/) also offers guides, tools and case studies to support public sector organisations to plan, design and deliver heat decarbonisation across their estates.

The guidance includes a set of templates to support public sector organisations to develop strategy stage heat decarbonisation plans:

an excel-based strategy-stage data capture form (https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/developing-your-strategy/#HeatDecarbonisationForm) which set outs a clear format for important data and building information to be collected

a template (https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/developing-your-strategy/#HeatDecarbonisationGuidance) that provides a structure for bringing together the key elements considered at strategy stage into a coherent, concise strategy document (including an editable version (https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/public-sector-decarbonisation-guidance/developing-your-strategy/#HeatDecarbonisationTemplate))

We would also like to refer organisations to Salix’s Phase 5 Low Carbon Skills Fund (https://www.salixfinance.co.uk/schemes/Phase-5-Low-carbon-skills-fund/announcement) where you can find guidance and further advice on how to produce a heat decarbonisation plan.