Green Living Fund - Round 3
Perth and Kinross Council · 27 May 2026
Back to Climate Change and Sustainability Committee — 27 May 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Climate Change & Sustainability Date of Meeting: 27 May 2026 Report Title: Green Living Fund – Round 3 Report Number: 26/145 Report Author: Eirini Kourtesi, Team Leader – Climate Change & Sustainable Development Organisational Lead: Fraser Crofts, Strategic Lead – Environment & Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this Report is to provide members of the CC&S Committee with the proposed approach for delivery of Round 3 of the Green Living Fund (GLF) for review and approval. 1.2 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendations 3. Background/Context 4. Main Issues 5. Proposals 6. Conclusion 7. Impact Value Assessment 8. Appendices 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: 2.1 Notes the lessons presented from Round 2 of the Green Living Fund. 2.2 Approves the approach to Round 3 of the Green Living Fund as outlined in Section 5.
Page 2
2.3 Approves advanced payments to be made to successful groups as part of the grant award process. 2.4 Approves combining the funds available to Perth City South, North, and Centre wards into one pot. 2.5 Approves any potential underspend to be utilised for awards across all Wards at the Officers’ discretion, upon communication with the CC&S Convener and Vice Convener. 3. Background/Context 3.1 The Green Living Fund (GLF) has been designed to provide support to community groups with projects that help address both the cost of living and climate crises. The GLF approach has been developed in line with the Council’s climate change strategy objectives by enabling projects that will impact on reducing emissions, building a more resilient Perth and Kinross, supporting those who are more vulnerable to climate change and its impacts, and protecting biodiversity. Applications to the GLF are carefully reviewed by an expert panel to ensure projects meet the eligibility criteria and support the Council’s wider climate change objectives. 3.2 The GLF uses a participatory budgeting approach to build community buy-in and deliver local priorities. The Council provided funding for Round 1, which opened for applications in October 2023, with £215,386 in funds awarded to 38 groups as voted on by their communities. These 38 projects were selected by over 2,000 voters. 3.3 Round 2 of the GLF was approved in August 2025, with £200,000 split across the twelve Perth and Kinross Wards. Out of the total fund allocation, £148,759.74 in funds were awarded to 28 groups due to some wards being undersubscribed which resulted to an underspend of £51,240. Round 2 of the GLF ran in parallel with the Fairer Communities For All fund (FCFA) using a joint online voting system that was accessed by 6998 voters from across Perth and Kinross. Using a joint system increased efficiencies for Officers and offered the opportunity for proposals to be transferred between the two funds as appropriate. One proposal was successfully transferred from FCFA to GLF due the project scope aligning with the objectives of the GLF. 3.4 GLF projects align with the following themes, and must also demonstrate how they will help local residents with the cost of living. These are linked to the Council’s climate change priorities, supporting the delivery of climate action across Perth and Kinross. • Energy – reducing consumption, promoting efficiency, generating renewable energy • Transport – encouraging active travel, decarbonising transport • Waste – reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle • Resilience – adapting to changing conditions – including flooding, drought and heat
Page 3
• Nature – improving greenspace, increasing biodiversity, local food growing • Engagement – increasing public awareness and engaging communities 3.5 Successful proposals from Round 2 included a variety of proposals that aligned with the themes above. Some examples include a food growing allotment at Perth UHI, free bike packages from Crieff Cycle Charity, litter picks and surplus food pick-ups from Kinross-shire Youth Enterprise. Additionally, digital foodbank vouchers from Broke not Broken and repair festivals from Remake Scotland and Greener Kinross-shire, as well as energy efficiency improvements from Blairgowrie Rugby Club, Perth Autism Support and Glenfarg Community Centre, are some examples of the projects that came into fruition as a result of GLF Round 2. Round 2 projects are currently being implemented, and the grant funds must be spent by 31 December 2026. A briefing note outlining detailed information and impact of projects will be issued to Members following completion of Round 2 projects. 3.6 Members allocated £200,000 of funding for GLF – Round 3 as part of the budget setting process for 2026/27 (Report 26/54 refers). 4. Main Issues 4.1 The decision to use Microsoft Forms (MS Forms) as the online voting platform was approved for Round 2 (Report 25/203 refers) with the intention to remove accessibility barriers for young people that had previously been an issue when using the CONSUL platform. Using MS Forms was largely a positive experience for the majority of voters, especially since they could vote for both GLF and FCFA projects using one platform. However, a small number of residents raised some concerns about the accessibility of the voting form, mainly, around the lack of digital skills in areas with ageing population. It is worth noting that facilities had been put in place to provide supported access in libraries. 4.2 Cross-ward projects - during Round 2, the fund received a number of proposals for cross-ward projects. Applicants were advised to split their application according to the funding required per ward so that their applications were deemed specific to each ward. However, this was not possible for all cross-ward proposals due to the nature of the project and time limitations for the proposals to be submitted e.g. an organisation providing support to groups throughout Perth and Kinross. These proposals were therefore submitted within the ward the group is based on, but further guidance on cross-ward proposals would be welcomed by applicants. 4.3 Undersubscribed wards - certain wards were undersubscribed due to a small number of proposals applying to the GLF for Round 2. To ensure that proposals would only go forward if they had the support of the local community (in line with the participatory budgeting objectives), a decision was made to introduce an additional requirement for a minimum of 50 votes in undersubscribed wards.
Page 4
This approach aligned with the FCFA eligibility criteria but had to be made during the voting process as it had not been included in the original approach proposed for GLF Round 2. Due to lack of applications in some wards there was an underspend of £51,240 at the end of the application window which was carried forward to Round 3. 5 Proposals 5.1 It is proposed to continue to run the GLF following the same approach used in Round 2 with no major modifications, using Microsoft Forms as the voting platform. Supported access in libraries will also be provided for Round 3 to minimise any access issues for those with limited internet connection or lack of digital skills. Postal votes will also be accepted upon request in cases where supported access is not available, eliminating any potential barriers to vote due to the above. 5.2 It is proposed to disburse the funds to successful applicants as an advance payment, within the proposed timeline at 5.10, and upon receipt of the awardee’s signed acceptance form. Advance payment will be on the basis that the awardee commits to specific financial governance conditions, including but not limited to, keeping full written records of what the agreed funding is spent on and retaining original receipts/invoices as proof of expenditure, to be provided to the Council along with their monitoring form. 5.3 The FCFA has been rebranded as the Investment in Communities Fund and it has been allocated £350,000 of funding for 2026/27 (Report 26/54 refers). At this current time, the plan for delivery of the Investment in Communities Fund has not been agreed by Housing & Social Wellbeing Committee. Once this has been agreed we will seek to work in tandem with that fund to avoid duplication of voting processes. Should the timeline allow, it is proposed that the GLF will run in parallel with the Investment in Communities Fund to maximise efficiencies in terms of the voting process. 5.4 Similar to Round 2, proposals will be evaluated 50% on technical evaluation by PKC Officers and 50% on community voting. The PKC Officer scoring will be based on the following criteria: • Expected climate change impact – 30% • Expected cost of living impact – 30% • Wider community benefits – 20% • Value for Money – 20% 5.5 No modifications are proposed to the evaluation process, and the same approach is proposed for Round 3.
Page 5
5.6 In line with GLF Round 2 Report approved at Committee (Report 25/203 refers), Round 2 awardees must complete a monitoring form (Appendix A) by 31 December 2026 which will outline information on: • How the funds were spent including receipts and invoices • Community impact (how many people benefitted from the project, volunteers involved) • Climate change impact (taking climate action locally, emissions reduction) • Cost-of-living impact (people supported in the community with the cost- of-living e.g. items provided free of charge) 5.7 The monitoring form will allow officers to estimate the real impact on carbon emissions by looking at emissions savings in relation to each project. No modifications are proposed to the monitoring process, and the same approach is proposed for Round 3. 5.7 Funding Allocation – There is a total funding allocation of £251,240 for GLF Round 3. This consists of the £200,000 allocation for 2026/27 (Report 26/54 refers), plus the £51,240 underspend from Round 2 which Elected Members approved to roll over to 2026/27. It is proposed that 50% of the funding will be allocated equally to each ward and 50% of the funding will be allocated based on the population of the ward. Due to a statistical margin error in the 2022 Census population data, the total funding available would exceed the available funding if the above methodology was followed strictly. For this reason, the equal split per ward has been rounded down to the closest penny, allowing for an underspend of £2.34. This pot can be used to round up partial awards to the closest penny on occasions where the ward allocation has been reached. Furthermore, reflecting on the lessons learnt from Round 2 of the GLF, the funding available for the three Perth City wards (Centre, South, and North) has been combined. This seeks to minimise any underspend across all City wards based on the experience of submissions in Round 2. The proposed allocation is shown in Table 1.
Page 6
Table 1 Ward Population (Census 2022) Equal Split Per Capita allocation Total funding 1- Carse of Gowrie 9916 £10,468.00 £8,251.89 £18,719.89 2 - Strathmore 15,458 £10,468.00 £12,863.83 £23,331.83 3 - Blairgowrie & Glens 11,248 £10,468.00 £9,360.36 £19,828.36 4 - Highland 8927 £10,468.00 £7,428.87 £17,896.87 5 - Strathtay 12,302 £10,468.00 £10,237.47 £20,705.47 6 - Strathearn 10,419 £10,468.00 £8,670.48 £19,138.48 7- Strathallan 11,727 £10,468.00 £9,758.97 £20,226.97 8- Kinross-shire 14,119 £10,468.00 £11,749.54 £22,217.54 9 - Almond & Earn 10,162 £10,468.00 £8,456.61 £18,924.61 10, 11, 12 – Perth City South, North, Centre 46,677 £31,404.00 £38,843.64 £70,247.64 Totals 150,953 £125,616.00 £125,620.00 £251,237.66 5.8 Cross-ward projects – to ensure the GLF application process is fair and transparent, it is proposed that cross-ward project proposals should be submitted as multiple applications. These should be specific to each ward, clarifying the funding requested for each. Groups may therefore submit copies of the same application, simply changing the funding requested per ward. 5.9 Undersubscribed wards – to ensure successful projects have the support of the local community, it is proposed to introduce the requirement for a minimum of 50 votes for all projects. To try and avoid any underspend in Round 3, and most importantly to ensure that more high-scoring and impactful projects are supported, it is also proposed to allow for any potential underspend to be used at the officers’ discretion in line with the scoring methodology after communicating with the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee Convener and Vice-Convener. 5.10 Timeline – the proposed timeline for the GLF Round 3 Application process is: • 24 August 2026 – Call for applications opens • 5 October 2026 – Submission for applications closes • 5 October – 26 October 2026 – Screening of applications by Council • 26 October – 23 November 2026 – Voting Open • 23 November – 30 November 2026 – Final screening • Results announced by 4 December 2026 • Target date for disbursing funds to successful applicants by 18 December 2026
Page 7
5.11 Please note the timeline outlined above is indicative for the purposes of this report. It is subject to change according to the timeline for the Investing in Communities Fund if it is deemed appropriate to run the two funds in parallel, similar to 2025. 6 Conclusion 6.1 Since its introduction in October 2023 the Green Living Fund has helped 66 community organisations shape and deliver impactful changes locally. Lessons were learned from Rounds 1 and 2 and other participatory budgeting approaches that have been incorporated into the proposed approach for Round 3. These should help to further increase the accessibility, engagement and impact of this funding. 7. Impact Value Assessment Green_Living_Fund_-_Round_3.pdf 8. Appendices 8.1 Appendix A – Green Living Fund Monitoring Form