To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department has made on plans to improve energy efficiency across schools through introducing solar hubs.

In April 2014 the Department published a leaflet encouraging schools to invest in Solar PV, which was followed up with a letter to local authorities in November 2014, and we have also continued to encourage deployment through the financial incentive of the Feed-in Tariff.

DECC officials are continuing to work with other Government Departments to explore what more can be done to make it easier for schools to invest in renewable energy.

Their ability to fund such projects through commercial and third party loans is restricted, to ensure value for money and protect public sector finances, but schools have found alternative ways of funding solar projects, for example through crowd funding and other mechanisms.