Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to improve the energy efficiency of Government buildings.

As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, the Government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. To support this, £2.5 billion is being invested through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 to provide grants for public sector bodies in England to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The Office for Government Property has published the Net Zero Estate Playbook providing guidance to support government property organisations to decarbonise their estate. This includes recommendations of how to reduce operational energy use, including through fabric improvements.

The Government Property Function on 15 November published its Government Property Strategy, which commits to delivering a range of interventions designed to create a smaller, better, and greener public estate. The greener element is focused on supporting delivery of the Greening Government Commitments, which include carbon emissions reduction targets for all government departments.