Health and Social Care Climate Emergency National Programme: scheme guidance

The Health and Social Care (H&SC) Climate Emergency National Programme is looking to fund projects from across the social care sector that contribute to reducing emissions or help the sector adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Local authorities can apply in collaboration with social care providers for a share of the Welsh Government’s £2.4 million H&SC Climate Emergency National Programme Funding Scheme.

Funding of up to £30,000 is available per local authority.

Projects funded must be aligned with Decarbonising Social Care in Wales and deliver towards the ambition for the Welsh public sector to be collectively net zero by 2030 and/or increase resilience to the impacts of climate change, by:

• supporting communication, engagement or behavioural change activity that helps embed the climate change agenda within social care organisations, and/or
• driving the implementation of organisation-level decarbonisation or adaptation action plans, including through funding specific initiatives or posts, and/or
• working with local delivery partners, especially domiciliary care providers, to explore new or innovative approaches to delivering care in the community.
• providing funding for small to medium-sized grass-roots initiatives (for example activities led by ‘green groups’ within organisations) or innovation activity and/or taking forward the actions set out in Decarbonising Social Care in Wales.

All projects funded need to demonstrate ambition and the potential for the project to be upscaled, spread and adopted more broadly across the social care sector and/or across the wider health and social care system.

As a condition of the funding, organisations will need to commit to provide:

• quarterly progress reports throughout the funding period,
• a short case study on the work undertaken, including the lessons learnt and recommendations on the potential for the project to be adopted more widely (at local, regional or national level).

Project leads may also be asked to participate in communication activities linked to the work of the National Programme with the aim of sharing experiences, best practice and lessons learned.

The H&SC Climate Emergency National Programme has been established in recognition of the significant opportunity for health and social care systems to lead the way on reducing carbon emissions from the public sector and ensure our contribution to the ambition for the public sector to be collectively net zero by 2030.

Action is needed not only because the health and social care system is one of the biggest public sector emitters but also because the health and social care system are at the forefront of responding to the impact of the climate emergency on people and their wellbeing outcomes.

In response to this challenge the NHS Wales Decarbonisation Strategic Delivery Plan was published in March 2021 and in July 2022 Decarbonising Social Care in Wales was launched, along with the Greener Primary Care Framework. These documents provide a clear and ambitious mandate for the action needed across the health and social care system.

In addition, further activity is underway to strengthen the system’s approach to adaptation planning to ensure resilience to the wellbeing and service delivery risks from climate change.

This Local Authority Social Care grant funding scheme has been set up to support projects and initiatives that have the potential to make a difference at both local, regional and national level.

This guidance is for local authorities to apply for funding

If you are a social care provider, please contact your local authority to collaborate in accessing this grant.

Local authorities should submit a single application up to the maximum allocation of £30,000.

We invite organisations to work together and/or submit joint bids. Where a joint bid is submitted, all participating local authorities must:

• each complete an application for up to the maximum allocation of £30,000
• provide details of all local authorities involved

The total maximum allocation is also not a ceiling on the value of projects that can be submitted, local authorities can choose to ‘top up’ or match fund their project/s.

Applications should be approved and submitted at Statutory Social Services Director level.

Projects should be designed to enable the funding to be spent within the financial year in which the funding is allocated.

Local authorities need to commit to provide:

• quarterly progress reports throughout the funding period
• a short case study on the work undertaken, including the lessons learnt and recommendations on the potential for the project to be adopted more widely (at local, regional or national level)

As a guide the following will not be funded:

• costs that are not associated with the actual project
• capital purchases
• subsistence, travel, and accommodation costs
• courses, training and conference costs or registration
• IT equipment
• additional capacity for existing roles or service provision
• like-for-like replacement of existing or de-funded resources

Funding decisions will be made by a sub-group of the H&SC Climate Emergency National Programme consistent with the criteria set out in this funding guidance and the application process.

Applications for funding need to be received by 31 March 2023.

Through the application process organisations will need to provide details on how their project proposal is aligned with Decarbonising Social Care in Wales and how it supports the Health and Social Care Sector contribution to the ambition for the Welsh Public Sector to be collectively net zero by 2030 and/or increases resilience to the impacts of climate change, by:

• supporting communication, engagement or behavioural change activity that helps embed the climate change agenda within social care organisations, and/or
• driving the implementation of organisation-level decarbonisation or adaptation action plans, including through funding specific initiatives or posts, and/or
• working with local delivery partners, especially domiciliary care providers, to explore new or innovative approaches to delivering care in the community.
• providing funding for small to medium-sized grass-roots initiatives (for example, activities led by ‘green groups’ within organisations) or innovation activity and/or taking forward the actions set out in Decarbonising Social Care in Wales

All projects funded need to demonstrate ambition and the potential for the project to be upscaled, spread and adopted more broadly across the social care organisation and/or across the wider health and social care system.

The National Programme will not pay any funding without:

• applications being approved and submitted at Statutory Social Services Director level.
• agreement to the funding conditions including quarterly reporting

Funding can only be used for the project purposes set out during the application process. Any change in the project purpose or targets must be notified in writing in advance of implementing any change. All reasonable written requests will be considered.

You must not use any part of the funding for any activity which could bring Welsh Government into disrepute.

If you decide to buy any goods and/or services to deliver the purposes of the project, they must be purchased in a competitive and sustainable way to demonstrate that you have achieved best value (including social value) in the use of public funds.

Should you have any questions please email HSC.ClimateEmergency@gov.wales.