The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has revealed that the second part of the £101.5m package for charities announced in the spring budget will be distributed from December.
Today, DCMS invited organisations and consortiums to apply to act as intermediary grantmakers to deliver the £25.5m VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme over the next two years in England.
Some £20m of the scheme will be paid out in grants to voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to introduce energy efficiency measures in their premises.
Another £3.4m will fund an advice service to help VCSEs identify the most effective measures for reducing their energy costs, principally through an independent energy assessment.
The £25.5m also includes an admin fee for the programme, which will aim to increase the energy efficiency and long-term sustainability of frontline VCSEs.
Programme delivery will take place from December 2023 to March 2025, with all spending to be completed within this time period, the invitation says.
Application criteria
In the 2023 spring budget, the government announced a £101.5m package, comprising two strands.
The first was the Community Organisations Cost Of Living Fund, administered by the National Lottery Community Fund, which opened to applications for small and medium-sized charities providing critical services earlier this week.
Today, DCMS published an invitation to organisations interested in delivering the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme to apply by 23 August.
DCMS seeks a partner or consortia that can demonstrate competence, experience and capability across six key areas that will be tested through the application process.
These include the ability to work with DCMS to design and deliver a scheme that meets the strategic objectives and provides value for money, and the ability to deliver a scheme within the timescales that provides assurance on quality.
“We are also particularly interested to hear from applicants who can bring cash or in kind match contributions. However, this is not a prerequisite for applicants,” its invitation says.
The successful applicants will be informed in September and then be required to work closely with DCMS to develop and agree the final scheme design by mid-November.
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