Wandsworth Council has secured a major £4.7 million government grant to retrofit five council buildings for energy efficiency – but refuses to say how that money will actually be spent.
In a public announcement made back in May, the council claimed credit for securing external funds from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The money will go towards reducing carbon emissions and improving the energy performance of buildings including Putney Leisure Centre and Wandsworth Town Hall.
What the council didn’t say is that it is also spending a further £3.3 million of local taxpayers’ funds on the same project, taking the total cost to over £8 million.
Despite repeated Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, Wandsworth Council has refused to disclose how much is being spent at each site, or what each upgrade – such as solar panels, heat pumps or insulation – is costing. It claims the figures are “commercially sensitive” and releasing them would damage its negotiating position with contractors.
This is despite several other councils that have received funding from the same company (Salix Finance) for carrying out the same kind of work having released costed breakdowns without issue.
The upgrade works, funded jointly by the government and the council, are scheduled to run until 2028 and include a range of improvements such as air source heat pumps, solar panels, building management systems and double glazing. All five buildings are set to be completed by March 2028, with major spending to take place between 2026 and 2027.
Wandsworth’s £4.7 million grant is part of the £113.9 million allocated across Greater London under the current round of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is delivered by Salix Finance on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Information delays, refusals, and silence
Putney.news submitted a detailed FOI request in May, asking the council to provide a breakdown of spending across the five sites – including how the £4.7 million grant and £3.3 million in council funds were being divided.
After missing the statutory deadline to respond, the council finally issued a reply in July – but withheld all cost breakdowns because, it claimed, releasing it would prejudice commercial interests. We have challenged that position since this is a taxpayer-funded programme involving public buildings and standardised retrofit technologies.
The council is now also late in responding to a formal internal review of its decision. After promising a reply by 12 August, yesterday it unilaterally extended its deadline by another 20 working days without explanation.
Transparency dodged
Wandsworth’s position – in effect, that it cannot reveal how £8 million in public money is being spent on public buildings – raises serious questions. Why are costs being hidden? Why can’t residents know which projects are receiving the most investment, or whether the money is being well spent?
The council’s press release claimed the upgrades would cut energy use by 92% and reduce emissions by 570 tonnes – but without access to site-level budgets, carbon savings or project plans, these claims remain unaudited and unverified.
At minimum, residents deserve a high-level cost allocation per building, and an indicative breakdown of the types of works being funded. The refusal to provide even this is concerning.
A pattern of withholding
This latest secrecy follows another recent story broken by Putney.News: the revelation that Wandsworth Council had quietly approved a £775,000 contract for 24 new diesel vehicles, despite its public commitment to electrifying its fleet.
The decision was made behind closed doors in May and only revealed after a delayed and redacted FOI response. No electric vehicles were even considered, and no emissions scoring was used in evaluating bids. The result: another three years of diesel pollution on borough streets – and another black mark on the council’s green claims.
As we reported last week:
“This was the first big test of Wandsworth’s green credentials — and the council failed it.”
Green promises vs grey practice
Wandsworth Council continues to talk up its ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030 and to lead the way on climate action. But the refusal to release basic information about its biggest decarbonisation project to date – and its decision to double down on diesel vehicles – suggests a different story.
These contradictions raise a simple question:
If the council won’t go green on its own buildings and fleet – and won’t say how it’s spending public money – how can it expect anyone else to follow?
