New decarbonisation framework launched for Scotland

A new framework has been launched in Scotland to provide retrofit and professional consultancy services to support Registered Social Landlords with the delivery of decarbonisation works.

Developed with contracting authority Abri, on behalf of The Greener Futures Partnership (GFP), the seven-year framework has been designed to ensure homes achieve the energy efficiency standard for social housing.

GFP was set up by five housing associations – Abri, Anchor, Home Group, Hyde Group and Sanctuary – in 2021, as its members believed a joint effort would be more effective in helping the social housing sector address environmental goals. Between them they have a combined stock of over 300,000 homes and represent 9% of the total social housing market.

GFP partners won all three bids submitted in SHDF wave one in England and Wales with local authorities, securing £5.2 million of grant funding for 461 properties, as well as successfully bidding for a further £40.4 million in SHDF wave two, through a joint consortium bid including all five partners.

Rose Bean, director of assets and sustainability at Abri and chair of the GFP executive committee, said, “The aim of the framework was to create a sector-leading route to market with a truly collaborative approach, where all parties contributed and continually developed best practice. Through sharing resources and collaborative procurement, not only was GFP able to save money, remove duplication and speed up delivery, but it was also able to consider a wide range of ideas from five diverse organisations, which wouldn’t have happened if its members had worked in isolation.

“The end result is a truly sustainable framework, which will allow users and contractors to build and maintain relationships to deliver decarbonisation for the long term, keeping pace with innovation in the sector.”

The multi-lot, multi-supplier framework covers Scotland, with a separate parallel framework for England and Wales. It has been designed to enable organisations both large and small to deliver retrofit works through a one-stop shop solution.

The procurement process was described as collaborative, with all partners involved at every stage, and documentation was co-produced with Echelon Consultancy, which procured the framework.

Jessica John, director of framework partnerships at Echeleon Group’s Pretium Frameworks, added, “We’re delighted to be launching this much-needed new framework for the delivery of decarbonisation works and services, which provides the perfect vehicle for supporting the housing sector in Scotland to tackle the sustainability challenge and meet the energy efficiency standard for social housing. We’ve already had a great deal of interest in the decarbonisation delivery framework for England and Wales, which launched last month, and there is a real buzz around this framework.

“We expect to hit the ground running, as Registered Social Landlords work to meet sustainability targets and bring their stock up to standard.”

The framework is split into three workstreams, two delivering construction works across different value bands and one delivering professional services, covering all roles specified under PAS 2035, as follows:

The framework is open to any Registered Social Landlord in Scotland, any other contracting authority in Scotland as defined in the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and any entity within the same group of companies as a GFP member, operating within Scotland.