Stockport Council awarded grant to boost decarbonisation programme

The £480k grant has been awarded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) who provide grants to public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The Offerton School, which was built in the 1960s, had been identified as needing replacement boilers and a new heating system as part of the School Investment Programme. The grant will mean that, as well as this work, gas boilers will also be replaced with heat pumps and the building will benefit from much improved insulation.

As a result of the building fabric improvements, heating demand is expected to reduce by as much as 35% and ground source heat pumps, which are three times more efficient than gas boilers, will allow gas to be completely removed from the building.

Overall, the project is expected to save approximately 55 tonnes of CO2e per year and will be a blueprint for what can be achieved with a school building of this age and type.

Cllr Mark Roberts, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment at Stockport Council, said: “This project is a great example of combining necessary maintenance investment with improvement opportunities which fulfil the Council’s Climate Action Now strategy. Our pledge to be carbon neutral by 2038 is an ambitious one but this is a fantastic example of some of the important work taking place across the borough to achieve this.

“Carbon management projects like this will help reduce our carbon footprint, and I hope that by improving our own performance, we can lead by example and demonstrate what can be done.”

James Clark, Headteacher at Dial Park Primary School, said: “ It’s a great opportunity for the school to become more environmentally friendly. Investing in a modern method to heat our school will help the children of Dial Park to understand ways of living in the future that better help our earth. The savings in energy costs will mean more of our money can be spent on educating children and providing resources rather than on heating the school because of the improved insulation.”

This is the second phase of PSDS grant money, with £4.3m received in 2022, which was invested in decarbonisation projects across the estate.

Further feasibility studies will now be undertaken, and plans put in place for other buildings as part of the decarbonisation programme, so that the Council is ready to launch bids for future funding to support their decarbonisation targets.

In March 2019 Stockport Council declared a climate emergency and pledged support for the Greater Manchester Five Year Environment Plan, including the target of becoming a carbon-neutral city region by 2038.