101. How Kada Helped the Greater London Authority Evaluate the Zero Carbon Accelerator to Strengthen Public Sector Decarbonisation
Kada was commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) to undertake an evaluation of their pioneering Zero Carbon Accelerator (ZCA) – a GLA-funded programme designed to help drive decarbonisation activity across London’s public sector organisations. Having evaluated two previous iterations of this programme, Retrofit Accelerator Workplaces, Retrofit Accelerator Homes and the Local Energy Accelerator, Kada was well placed to assess how well the programme had evolved, progressed, met objectives and increased impact.
London’s public sector organisations face significant and complex barriers to decarbonisation, including limited technical expertise, insufficient delivery capacity, and difficulties accessing and securing capital funding for net zero projects. As large organisations with significant assets, reach and influence they are vitally important actors in the GLA’s ongoing ambition for the capital to be net zero by 2030.
For this commission Kada undertook 29 consultations including with the GLA, the contract manager (Mott MacDonald), and the wide range of organisations supported such as health providers like NHS Trusts, cultural institutions and local Government bodies such as Transport for London and London borough councils. Kada also ran a short pulse survey to assess overall satisfaction with the ZCA and impact so far. This qualitative depth was synthesised with rich quantitative metrics from programme monitoring data, progress reports, and Key Performance Indicator tracking, as well as the survey responses. To assess value for money, Kada estimated the monetary value of forecast carbon savings using the UK Government’s Green Book carbon values, overall programme spend, and our sophisticated economic models.
Indicative estimates suggest that for every £1 of GLA investment will generate approximately £4.00 of equivalent carbon savings over a 30-year period, evidencing good overall value for money for the programme. Over half of survey respondents reported that the support exceeded their expectations with 61% said they would not have obtained equivalent support without the ZCA. It also found that ZCA has also helped client organisations to access an estimated £262 million in capital investment to deliver decarbonisation infrastructure with the programme forecasted to significantly contribute to over 30,000 tonnes of cumulative carbon savings by 2030.
Kada’s recommendations focused on the additional savings and impact that could be achieved in future through a greater streamlining of decisions and increased role clarity to speed up decision making, ring-fenced funding for organisations that are at the early stages of decarbonisation activity, continued work to engage and expanding activity to include large scale interventions such as heat networks.
If you are a public body developing, delivering or evaluating a decarbonisation, net zero or funding programme, get in touch to find out how we could help.
