Carbon Reduction Plan
Last updated: 23 September 2026
1. Commitment to achieving net zero
Innovate is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions for its UK operations and relevant value chain no later than 2045. In line with the NHS commitments reflected in SWFT’s Green Plan, our targets are net zero by 2040 for the NHS Carbon Footprint and by 2045 for the wider NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Both precede the 2050 deadline under PPN 006. [2, 3]
2. Baseline and current emissions footprint
Baseline year and current reporting year: 2025/26
1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
This is Innovate’s first estimate-based reporting period and establishes its baseline. The baseline and current-year figures are therefore identical; no historical emissions reduction is claimed. [1]
Figures are tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), rounded from unrounded calculations. The Scope 3 total covers the five specified PPN 006 categories, including optional homeworking within Category 7. [1]
Reporting boundary
The reporting basis is Innovate’s UK operations using operational control. Innovate has no owned data centres. The facilities concerned form part of the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) estate; on management’s stated allocation, their facility-energy emissions are reported by SWFT rather than added here. This exclusion is subject to consistency with operational control and does not automatically exclude other technical assets or separately acquired energy or hosting. [1]
Heating and electricity for Innovate’s rented offices are supplied by SWFT and George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust (GEH). These acquired office-energy emissions remain included in Scope 2. [1]
Reporting method and data availability
Recorded fleet mileage is combined with UK Government emission factors. Workspace energy uses office benchmarks and a SWFT-estate heat allocation. Current staffing is used as a proxy for the reporting-period workforce. Staff travel, commuting/homeworking, waste and freight use published activity-specific proxies. Detailed calculations, assumptions and source records are retained in the supporting schedule. [1]
Operational management considers the accumulated SAS collections to represent approximately one year’s electronics activity. This informs an annual-volume proxy, not a measured 2025/26 return. Missing weights, treatment and attribution remain uncertain. The combined office/IT waste allowance is retained to avoid adding an overlapping SAS estimate. Freight remains a screening estimate; the heat allocation may overstate office use. Separate waste streams and carrier data will be reconciled by 31st March 2027, with workforce and local energy allocations improved within three months of approval. [1]
3. Emissions reduction targets
Innovate’s five-year target is to reduce annual emissions on the 2025/26 reporting basis by 20% by 31 March 2031, from 415.1 to 332.1 tCO₂e. The target will be supported by the measures below. Progress will be assessed on a comparable basis; material changes to reporting coverage or methods will be explained and the baseline restated where necessary. No offsets or avoided customer emissions are deducted. [1]4. Carbon reduction projects
Measures already in place
Established measures include fleet mileage monitoring, staff homeworking arrangements and a staff survey, electronics reuse/recycling records through SAS, and SWFT-managed general waste and recycling. Innovate also participates in the digital workstreams identified in SWFT’s Green Plan. Relevant measures will continue to apply when delivering Innovate’s contracts. No quantified reduction from these measures is claimed in this first reporting year. [1, 2]
Further reduction programme
The programme applies to Innovate’s operations and relevant contracts. Digital measures support the SWFT Green Plan; customer-estate benefits are reported in the appropriate inventory, not deducted from Innovate’s baseline. [1, 2]
5. Monitoring and reporting improvement
The Chief Executive is accountable for delivery, supported by operational leads and Board oversight. Progress and data quality will be reviewed quarterly. This plan will be updated at least annually, within six months of the financial year end; the next annual update is due by 30 September 2027. Material corrections will be published sooner. [1, 3]
Innovate will improve landlord energy allocations, workforce and commuting information, fleet factors and third-party transport data. It will reconcile annual electronics volumes, missing weights, treatment routes and general waste without duplicate counting. By 31 March 2027, it will develop wider Scope 3 reporting, prioritising purchased IT equipment, capital goods, bought hosting and other relevant sources in preparation for applicable NHS supplier requirements. These wider categories are not comprehensively included in the present total. [1]
The estimates and data-availability explanation in section 2 form part of this plan. Where a procurement requires acceptance of a data-gap explanation, that acceptance remains a matter for the contracting authority under its published criteria. [4]
6. Declaration and sign-off
By signing below following Executive Team approval, the authorised director confirms on behalf of Innovate:
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard, using the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements where required, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions has been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and approved by Innovate’s Executive Team. The reporting methods and data-availability explanation in section 2 form part of this declaration. [3]
Supporting calculations and evidence will be retained separately. [3]
References
[1] Innovate: External carbon calculation schedule, FY2025/26, v1.4, including the annual SAS-volume management clarification and retained source records. Detailed calculations and supporting evidence are retained separately.
[2] SWFT: Green Plan 2025–2028, July 2025; net-zero commitments, governance and digital workstreams.
[3] Cabinet Office: PPN 006 template and technical reporting standard. Updated 10 July 2025.
[4] NHS England: Carbon reduction plan and net zero commitment requirements, version 3, December 2025.