The government has announced £19mn in funding for its Local Net Zero Accelerator Programme, helping combined authorities to deliver green initiatives.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority and West Midlands Combined Authority have been selected, receiving more than £12mn to help them leverage private sector investment for multiple green projects spread across different sectors, including energy, housing and transport. The combined authorities themselves will be the ones responsible for deciding how best to allocate funding and select projects that will most benefit their communities.
These projects could include housing retrofit, as well as those in renewable energy and transport. This could see the installation of things such as solar panels and battery storage, along with the deployment of green buses.
With local authorities having historically faced barriers when it comes to attracting private sector investment for smaller net zero programmes and one-off projects, the government hopes this funding will help overcome it. By combining multiple projects across different sectors through the programme, the thinking is it will become easier to secure private investment in a long-term, sustainable way, rather than just requesting funding for the one-off, shorter-term initiatives.
A third pilot will be launched in the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. This is aiming to replicate a similar, successful initiative that has been modelled in Bristol – Bristol City Leap – which saw 1,000 jobs supported and secured millions of pounds worth of investment into Bristol’s energy system. Lessons from these pilots will then be used to help other combined authorities across England deliver net zero targets.
