UKSPF - Business Decarbonisation Programme

The UK government has set out an ambitious plan for change, focused on 5 national Missions: ambitious, measurable, long-term objectives that provide a driving sense of purpose for the country.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) proactively supports Mission-delivery: pushing power out to communities everywhere, with a specific focus to help kickstart economic growth and promoting opportunities in all parts of the UK.

The UK government’s Autumn Budget announced a further £900 million of funding for local investment by March 2026. All areas of the UK are receiving a further allocation of UKSPF - helping places take advantage of the Fund’s flexibility and plan now for delivery from April 2025.

For 2025-26, we have mapped existing interventions into Mission-led themes across the three priority areas: Communities and Place; Support for Local Business; and People and Skills

Investment priority – Supporting Local Businesses

Intervention E29: Supporting decarbonisation and improving the natural environment whilst growing the local economy. Taking a whole systems approach to invest in infrastructure to deliver effective decarbonisation across energy, buildings and transport and beyond, in line with our legally binding climate target. Maximising existing or emerging local strengths in low carbon technologies, goods and services to take advantage of the growing global opportunity.

Indicative fund allocation: £80,072.83

You can apply for a grant of up to £7,500 Max – exceptions to this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis

Delivery: June 2025 to March 2026

Applications open: 12:00 on 02 June 2025

Applications close: 12:00 on 21 July 2025

Moderation: week commencing 28 July 2025

Results of application: week commencing 28 July 2025

Please email UKSPF@bassetlaw.gov.uk to request an application pack.

If you have any questions about the guidance document or the expression of interest application, please email UKSPF@bassetlaw.gov.uk

Guidance document

Intervention E29

This grant relates to Investment Priority – Supporting Local Business

• Supporting decarbonisation and improving the natural environment whilst growing the local economy.
• Taking a whole systems approach to invest in infrastructure to deliver effective decarbonisation across energy, buildings and transport and beyond, in line with our legally binding climate target.
• Maximising existing or emerging local strengths in low carbon technologies, goods and services to take advantage of the growing global opportunity.

Bassetlaw District Council recognises the important and valuable contribution that the business sector brings to the area and why it is paramount to invest in the sector to build further capacity in the area.

Through the decarbonisation programme, the Council aims to support local businesses to start or accelerate their decarbonisation pathways to reduce their carbon emissions, thus their impact on climate change. The work to be carried out in this project intends to support both pillars of sustainability: financial and environmental, by decarbonising business premises and reducing their energy consumption.

To achieve this, the grant aims to facilitate businesses to identify the suitable energy efficiency measures for their premise and financially support them to install those measures to reduce the organisation’s carbon footprint.

The Grant Offer

The grant is available to organisations whose business premises (which the funding application applies to) are located and operate within Bassetlaw District and offers the provision of a grant of up to £7,500 for spend on energy efficiency measures to support the reduction of the organisations’ carbon footprint. The proposed measures must be supported by a current carbon footprint, cost and carbon savings calculations for before and after installation and a description of how the chosen measure will support the ongoing operation or maintenance of the building.

Eligibility Criteria

• Businesses must be located and operate within the Bassetlaw District.
• Small businesses with up to 49 employees are now eligible to apply for a grant of up to £7,500 towards decarbonisation projects to help make their company greener.
• The liable party that pays the business rates to Bassetlaw District Council must match that of the applicant and this will be verified with the Council’s business rates team.
• The applicant must not be in debt to the Council, and this will be verified with the relevant Council departments i.e. business rates and council tax.
• All permissions, licences and planning (if applicable) must be granted before the grant is awarded (this will need to be evidenced by the applicant).
• The applicant must attach more than one quotation for the works/project. Three quotations are preferable.

Eligible Costs

Grant funding should only be used for energy efficiency measures and/or low carbon technologies for the purpose of reducing the businesses’ carbon footprint.

Ineligible Costs

Grant funding issued will not be eligible to fund any energy efficiency measures and/or low carbon technologies that cannot be justified by cost and carbon savings calculations for before and after installation.

Funding Conditions

• UKSPF must not be used to replace existing funding sources. UKSPF must enable activity to take place that would not otherwise happen or to increase the scope, scale, or intensity of activity.
• Costs of previous works undertaken prior to applying will NOT be considered. This grant is for future spend only.
• There is no specific requirement for match funding. However, any costs exceeding the grant value is the responsibility of the applying organisation.
• For those businesses taking advantage of the programme, it will be the responsibility of the business to provide the requested data.
• For those businesses taking advantage of the programme, it will be the responsibility of the business to procure a contractor(s) for their chosen works and manage the works at their chosen asset. Also, evidence of your spend will be required with the provision of invoices and receipts and the submission of a report at the end of the project including photographs of the works before the funding will be released to the business.
• UKSPF grants will be paid quarterly in arrears, and expenditure must be defrayed prior to the submission of any claims. Applicants may be asked to demonstrate how they are able to cash flow the operation.

Do I require planning permission?

• Planning permission is required for works that involve a material change to the external appearance of a building. Examples of this are alterations to the fascia, the windows or the doorway, changes to the type of material used or the installation of awnings, blinds or security shutters.
• Advertisement consent is required for the display of certain types of signs. You may also require planning permission for change of use to the property.
• If you are unsure whether your works require planning permission, you should seek further guidance on planning implications. Please see the contact details below if you’d like to speak to the relevant team within the council for further advice:
  • Email – planning@bassetlaw.gov.uk
  • Telephone – 01909 533533
  • Website - Planning applications | Bassetlaw District Council
  • Pre-Application Advice | Bassetlaw District Council

Applications

How to apply for the grant programme

• The following documents must be completed and returned to UKSPF@bassetlaw.gov.uk by applicants in order to be considered for funding. Applications submitted in any other format will not be accepted.
• UKSPF - Bassetlaw E29 Decarbonisation Grant Programme Application Form
• In addition, please email one of the following to support your application:
  • A copy of accounts for the last two years
  • A statement of the turnover, profit and loss account (income statement), balance sheet (statement of financial position), and statement of cash flow for the most recent year of trading for this organisation
  • Alternative means of demonstrating financial status if any of the aforementioned are not available, such as a forecast of turnover for the current year and a statement of funds provided by the owners and/or the bank, charity accruals accounts, or another method
  • Alternative means of demonstrating financial status if any of the aforementioned are not available, i.e. the last three bank statements
• Finally:
  • If applicable, a letter of agreement from your Landlord
  • Any permissions if required

Assessment Criteria

Stage 1: Gateway criteria

Criteria	Pass	Fail	Partial
Criteria 1: Application signed, fully completed and returned on time
Criteria 2: Applicant meets eligibility criteria (Business in Bassetlaw and SME)
Criteria 3: Economic and Financial Standing* Finance Risk*
Criteria 4: Planning in place if required
Criteria 5: Landlord permission if required

Stage 2: Scoring

The maximum score for each question is 5, based on the scoring framework below, but some are weighted through the multiplication of the assigned score.

Score	Assessment	Description
0	Unacceptable	Response to the question is unacceptable, or no response was received. Does not give the fund confidence in the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract.
1	Poor/Weak response	Inadequate detail provided, or some of the answers are not directly relevant to the question. Is supported by none or a weak standard of evidence in several areas, giving rise to concern about the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract.
2	Below Expectations	Limited information provided and/or a response that is inadequate or only partially addresses the question giving rise to concern about the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract.
3	Satisfactory Response	Acceptable response in terms of the level of detail, accuracy, and relevance. Is supported by a satisfactory standard of evidence in most areas, but a few areas lack detail or evidence, giving rise to some concerns about the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract.
4	Good Response	Comprehensive response in terms of detail and relevance to the question and supported by a good standard of evidence. Gives the fund confidence in the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract. Meets the fund’s requirements.
5	Very Good Response	As good, but to a better degree in terms of precision and relevance. Is comprehensive and supported by a high standard of evidence. Gives the fund a high level of confidence in the ability of the bidder to deliver the contract. May exceed the Fund’s requirements in some respects; for example, added value such as integration or synergy with other projects.

3a. What is your decarbonisation project? (20% of the score)

Please outline the details of your proposed project – the context of your business, what you are requesting the funding for, how the measure will be installed and where it will be placed.

3b. How will this project support your business on the pathway to decarbonisation with specific focus on the proposed amendments to your building? (20% of the score)

Please detail the context of your business premise currently (i.e. current decarbonisation measures already implemented, decarbonising measures you would like to install and how the funding will help make your building more efficient).

3c. Show the worked example of calculating your building’s carbon footprint pre- and post- measure installation(s) utilising UK GHG Conversion Factors 2024. (Pass / Fail)

Please explain how you have calculated the savings of your proposed decarbonisation measure. This can be shown in an Excel document or written out but is limited to 1 Page.

We are keen to ensure the applicant has the flexibility to show their workings for the proposed measures in their own way, however, unrealistic assumptions or percentages can lead to failing the application. Support can be requested from the Climate Change Team at the Council while completing the application.

Some examples of how this could be calculated are by percentage changes in the insulative quality of the building (U-value of existing to proposed) or by kW rating of an electrical appliance and assumed hours used.

3d. What is the predicted percentage reduction of your building’s carbon footprint after installing the proposed measure(s)? (Predicted kgCO2e / Current kgCO2e)

Score	Assessment
0	Not provided
1	0 to < 5%
2	5 to < 10%
3	10 to < 15%
4	15 to < 20%
5	≥ 20%

There is some guidance available here on conversion for greenhouse gas emissions.

Government conversion factors for company reporting of greenhouse gas emissions - GOV.UK

Stage 3. Moderation

Funding will be awarded to the applicants with the highest scores.

If a project was failed in question 3c, feedback will be provided why the calculation of carbon footprint was deemed unrealistic or not representative of the works being carried out. The applicant will have the opportunity to resubmit in the next iteration of grants, should funding be available.

Notification of invitation to bid outcome

Once the outcome of the assessment process has been notified to all applicants, organisations can request feedback on their applications and scoring.

Evaluating the Project

If you are successful, evidence of your spend will be required and a member of the Council will undertake a site visit. You will have to provide invoices and receipts and/or submit a report at the end of the project which could include photographs of the project.

Funding will be awarded to applicants whose project meets the UKSPF outcomes and the eligibility criteria. Once the outcome of the assessment process has been notified to applicants, organisations can request feedback on their applications and scoring.

Further information

For further information or questions please email: UKSPF@bassetlaw.gov.uk

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Last Updated on Tuesday, June 3, 2025