£40 million allocated for energy efficiency and access to the arts

Improved energy efficiency in the public sector, and increased access to the arts and culture sector, will be priority areas for the allocation of £40 million from the Invest to Save – Inclusive Communities Budget (ISB), Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng announced today.

Projects that support the development of energy action plans, improve energy efficiency in public buildings, and raise staff awareness of the cost savings from energy efficiency will be able to bid for £40 million of funds from the 8th round of ISB allocations from June 2005, alongside projects that aim to increase access to arts and cultural events.

This build on the success of the 7th round of ISB allocations, which resulted in the allocation of £40 million to 37 successful bids from across the public and voluntary sectors, aimed at improving services offered to various disadvantaged groups.

Paul Boateng said:

“Since 1999, the Invest to Save Budget has invested more than
£400 million in hundreds of projects across the United Kingdom to deliver reform and enhanced levels of service to local people.

“I am pleased to allocate £40 million for the 8th round of the Invest to Save Budget and invited bids for projects in the priority areas of improved energy efficiency in the public sector and increased access to the arts and culture.

“Lessons learned from past projects are of great value and we are confident that the current batch of local 7th round projects will continue to tell us much about how we can improve the delivery of public services across the nation as a whole.”

Notes for editors

1. The ISB is designed to address gaps in the provision of public services, increase joint working across government; spread innovative ways of delivering public services; and improve the efficiency, quality and effectiveness of services delivered to the public. After the seven rounds of the ISB to date, a total of around £410 million will have been allocated to projects between April 1999 and April 2008.

2. The Treasury assesses bids using a pre-determined, published set of criteria before making recommendations to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury who makes the final decision on winning projects. These projects have to agree an implementation plan with the sponsor department and Treasury. Each project has to provide six-monthly progress reports and carry out an evaluation of its success once it has been completed.

3. The 1st round of the ISB was restricted to central government departments and their agencies. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds local authorities, police and fire authorities, health authorities, non-departmental public bodies and public corporations were also able to apply. In the 4th round, voluntary sector bodies were able to apply for the first time, and the 5th and 6th rounds focused on partnerships between different branches of government and the voluntary sector, and encouraged innovation in public service delivery.

4. The seventh round of the ISB focused on health and social care for older people; employment for people from black and ethnic minority communities; correctional services; hostel provision for homeless people; support for parents and learning services for adults; and integration for people from ethnic minorities.

5. Details of all the winning projects can be found on the ‘Projects’ page of the ISB website at: www.isb.gov.uk, and details of the winning bids from the 8th round will be published there in due course.

6. Media enquires should be directed to the Treasury press office on 020 7270 5238.

7. Non media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk.

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