A resident has criticised Buckinghamshire Council for what she described as a “frustrating” lack of progress in decarbonising its buildings and vehicle fleet.

Heather Haydock said she was disappointed by the pace of change, raising the issue at the council’s Transport, Environment, Communities and Climate Change committee meeting on Tuesday.

She told the meeting she had first raised concerns last year, asking whether the authority was missing out on funding through the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which provides grants to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings.

Ms Haydock said she was previously told the council did not have sufficient resources to bid for the funding. During the discussion, a committee member suggested recruiting volunteers to help with bid writing, and the council agreed to look into the idea.

She later offered her own services as an experienced public-sector bid writer specialising in energy and climate change, but said she had not received a response despite following the offer up twice.

Ms Haydock said: “It is disappointing and frustrating to see so little progress in decarbonising the council’s estate and vehicle fleet.

“At the equivalent transport, environment, communities and climate change meeting last February, I asked whether the council receives so much more funding, from government public sector decarbonisation scheme, and was told Buckinghamshire doesn’t have enough resources to bid for funding.

“I subsequently offered my services as an experienced public sector bid writer specialising in energy and climate change, and I followed this up twice after that, and have still not received a response.

“Please can the council say why they do not want to pursue this option and how they plan to assess the much-needed resources without external help.”

She added that the results of the fourth round of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme had recently been published, with councils such as Oxfordshire County Council and Surrey County Council securing further funding.

Responding to the concerns, Jaspal Chhokar, deputy cabinet member for environment, climate change and waste at Buckinghamshire Council, said the authority was exploring a range of options.

He said: “The council is looking at a wide variety of options regarding the building’s portfolio.

“This is informed by corporate plans affecting the makeup of the portfolio. And we take into account the challenging financial climate and the increased demand for critical services.

“Decisions to invest in retrofits of our existing buildings stock with sustainable energy needs to be made very carefully.”

Cllr Chhokar added that the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme had now closed, noting that it required match funding and had short delivery timeframes.

“For the reasons stated above, coupled with HR constraints, it’s not been practical to pursue this option,” he said.

“There is also insufficient capacity to source and manage suitable volunteers or consultants to undertake feasibility assessment and bid writing work.

“So, we continue to explore options to sustain and enhance teams to undertake the decarbonisation of the council’s assets.”

He added that emissions directly linked to the council make up only a small proportion of Buckinghamshire’s overall carbon output, with transport and domestic use representing the county’s two largest sources of emissions.