Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme axed

The government has confirmed that they will not be extending their Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) grants, after five years of allocating money to public sector buildings, such as schools, to replace inefficient heating systems.

The PSDS was launched in 2020 and has distributed a total £3.8 billion to schools, colleges, local authority buildings, hospitals, and other public sector bodies to help buildings upgrade their heating systems, allowing them to both save money on energy bills while also switching to more sustainable solutions, like heat pumps and solar panels.

Salix, a non-departmental body owned by the UK government, distributes funding on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and confirmed that the government “has taken the difficult decision to commit no further investment for the public sector decarbonisation scheme beyond currently awarded projects.”

This follows the awarding of £940 million last month for the fourth and final phase of the PSDS, which distributed tens of millions of investment across the education estate. This will continue until the end of the fourth phase, which is in the financial year 2017-2028.

Some of the educational bodies awarded include £635,00 for Dartford Science and Technology College, £5,100,000 for Croydon’s Harris Federation, and £962,133 for Star Academies in Bradford.