Local Net Zero: the support already on the table.
Hubs, Accelerators, Great British Energy, the Community Fund, what's actually on offer, and how to find the door.
If you run a parish council, sit on a community energy committee, or just want your village hall to stop bleeding money on standing charges, here's the news that hasn't reached you yet: the central government has assembled a surprisingly broad scaffolding of support for local net zero work. It's not advertised well, and it's spread across half a dozen agencies, but the money, and more importantly the expertise, is real.
This is a plain-English summary of the official DESNZ guidance published by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, with every link you need in one place.
The five Local Net Zero Hubs
The most useful thing the government has done in this space, quietly, is to fund five regional Hubs whose entire job is to help local authorities and community groups develop net zero projects and attract commercial investment. They are free to talk to. Find yours:
- North East and Yorkshire Local Net Zero Hub
- North West Local Net Zero Hub
- Midlands Local Net Zero Hub
- South West Local Net Zero Hub
- South East (Greater South East) Local Net Zero Hub
Great British Energy
Great British Energy is the new publicly-owned body set up to put public capital behind clean power. For local areas, two of its programmes matter most:
- Mayoral Renewables Scheme, a £10 million fund supporting Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority to roll out local renewable projects.
- Great British Energy Community Fund, a £5 million grant scheme for community-led clean power projects. It continues the work of the previous Community Energy Fund and is administered through the five Hubs above.
The £19m Local Net Zero Accelerator
The Local Net Zero Accelerator Programme is a £19m pilot designed to test whether local government can attract commercial investment for green growth at scale. Three strands:
- Two Accelerators in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, bundling projects together to attract long-term private investment.
- A City Leap Replicator in York and North Yorkshire, testing whether the Bristol City Leap model can be replicated faster and more cheaply.
- A Local Net Zero Finance Support Service, giving the pilot areas access to specialist financial skills.
Net Zero Go
Net Zero Go is the online platform funded by government to give councils practical, peer-tested information on how to develop locally focused net zero projects. If you've ever sat in a council meeting where someone asked "but how do other places actually do this?", this is the answer.
Community energy
Government continues to recognise community groups as serious players. Beyond the new Community Fund, the longer-running Community Energy Fund (2023–2025) has already supported a long list of projects, see the February 2025 project list for the kind of work that has cleared the bar.
Two standing forums shape the policy conversation:
- Local Net Zero Delivery Group, for councils.
- Community Energy Contact Group, for community organisations.
Background reading
- Clean Power 2030 Action Plan
- Great British Energy: what we will do
- Great British Energy to cut bills for hospitals and schools
What this means in practice
For a council or community group considering its first solar project, the route is usually the same: start with your regional Hub (free advice, route to the Community Fund), use Net Zero Go for technical templates, and, when you have a viable project, talk to a delivery partner who can build the thing properly and stay around to prove it's working.
That last bit is where we come in. Shires Energy designs, installs and maintains commercial-grade solar for the kind of buildings that already exist in every parish: village halls, community centres, school roofs, farm sheds, light-industrial units. We're happy to sit on a Zoom with a clerk or a chair of trustees and walk through what a Hub conversation should sound like before you have it.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll help you map the funding landscape against your buildings.
Or just leave your number
Not ready to book a slot? Drop your name and UK phone number. Tom will call you back.
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