The National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat (NCDH) in Birmingham has been awarded £20m, as part of the latest round of Levelling Up Funding from the Conservative government.
Welcoming the news, Jay Singh-Sohal said:
“These millions of pounds of new funds for the NCDH means more investment into real-world research and technology which will go a long way towards helping our neighbourhoods access locally produced energy. That would bring the benefits of being greener and cheaper for thousands of local families.
“Already Solihull Council is pioneering projects to deliver affordable low carbon energy to the town centre and homes in Solihull and nearby Coventry.
“This funding will build locally on that work as we aim for more regionally devolved decision making on heat decarbonisation and strive towards the goal of being a net zero region by 2041.”
The NCDH project works alongside local government partners including City Council and Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership as well as energy firms such as E-On, Baxi Heating and Engie.
In total, the latest round of the Levelling Up Fund has awarded nearly £1 billion to 55 projects across the country, including £150 million to develop better transport links across the country and £825 million to kick-start regeneration in town centres.
This builds on the £3.8 billion that has already been awarded to 216 projects across the first two rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, helping to drive prosperity and pride in place in communities across the UK.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove MP said:
“Levelling up means delivering local people’s priorities and bringing transformational change in communities that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued.
“Today we are backing 55 projects across the UK with £1 billion to create new jobs and opportunities, power economic growth, and revitalise local areas.
“This funding sits alongside our wider initiatives to spread growth, through devolving more money and power out of Westminster to towns and cities, putting in place bespoke interventions to places that need it most, and our Long-Term Plan for Towns.”
The latest Levelling Up Funding follows the £1 billion Long-Term Plan for Towns announced last month to empower communities and help revive high streets, tackle anti-social behaviour, improve transport and grow the local economy.
The commitment also follows other initiatives designed to support towns, including driving economic growth in 101 areas through the Towns Fund, and the £1 billion Future High Streets Fund, which is creating thriving high streets.
The Conservative Government is taking the long-term decisions for a brighter future for people across the country by transforming places that have been overlooked for too long, spreading opportunity and growing our economy.
ENDS
Jay Singh-Sohal 