A report informing the Committee about a bid to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to enable decarbonisation of the Hexagon Theatre and providing details of a similar funding application for further development of a heat network project for Reading, a strategic investment to decarbonise town centre heating which is at the early stages of development.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report informing the Committee about a bid to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to enable decarbonisation of the Hexagon Theatre and providing details of a similar funding application for further development of a heat network project for Reading, a strategic investment to decarbonise town centre heating which was at the early stages of development.

The report stated that the Council sought opportunities to apply for external funding to enhance its ability to deliver the objectives of the Reading Climate Emergency Strategy and Corporate Carbon Plan.  An external funding bid had been submitted under delegated authority in October 2022 with the submission of a bid to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to enable decarbonisation of the Hexagon Theatre.  The bid had been for a grant of £1.88m generating a match funding requirement for the Council of £725,000 to be met from within approved capital budgets. A successful bid would enable installation of ground source heat pumps to replace gas boilers, insultation and lighting upgrades.

The report also explained that a successful application had been made in the past for successive rounds of funding from the Government’s Heat Network Delivery Unit (HNDU) for funding to help develop a heat network for Reading.  This funding had enabled feasibility work to be conducted which had identified a cluster of developments north of the station as offering the best prospects for a viable scheme, tapping into heat from the River Thames to provide a low carbon power source for a heat network.  The next stage, known as ‘Detailed Project Development’, would build on the recently completed feasibility study and develop the proposal into an ‘investment ready’ proposition.  An application had therefore been submitted to Round 12 of the HNDU fund for £168,000 in December 2022, for which match funding of £50,000 was required and would come from the Climate Change Reserve.

Peter Moore, Head of Climate Strategy, reported that the bid for ground heat pumps to enable decarbonization of the Hexagon Theatre had not been successful and had not been included on the list of funded projects.  Bids had been subject to technical checks, but had been accepted on a ‘first-come first served’ basis and the allocation had been completed in ten minutes.  However, funding was available from within the Council’s approved capital budgets.  The bid for funding from the Government’s HNDU had been successful and a grant of £150k had been awarded, as had a grant for £825k from the Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership that would be used to replace gas heating in the Civic Offices with heat pumps, therefore providing a low carbon heating system.

Resolved –

(1)    That the submission of bids to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and the Heat Network Delivery Unit be noted;

(2)     That the Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and the Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, be granted authority to agree and accept any grant offers arising from the bids.