Diagnostic Tool

What is the Diagnostic Tool for?

The Diagnostic Tool helps local authorities assess their readiness to secure investment for net zero projects, moving beyond one-off grants to finance at scale.

Are you ready to attract blended finance and accelerate your journey to making change?

Use the tool to benchmark your current position against seven essential pillars of success:

Access to finance
Organisational capacity
Place-based approach
Socio-economic conditions
Political and public policy
Planning and procurement
Community engagement

Before  you start

See the questions first

You can review the full question list before starting. This helps you involve the right people and understand the context. Return to the to complete the questionnaire in the Diagnostic Tool and receive your scores.

Download questions

Download decision tree

Who should be involved?

The tool is designed to bring finance, leadership, planning, environment, neighbourhoods, and democratic services teams together around a shared objective. Some questions may need input from elected members.

Time commitment

The initial assessment takes 2–3 hours. It’s designed to give a clear picture of where investment and capacity-building are needed – not just to show gaps, but to guide next steps.

How it works

Step 1: Complete the assessment

Answer a dedicated set of questions across the seven pillars.

Step 2: Review your results

Get instant visual feedback showing where your organisation is strong and where there is room for growth.

Step 3: Explore targeted support

Enter your investment journey on this portal to access resources that help you upskill and build capability. Wondering how to find the most relevant tools for each stage? Use your Diagnostic Tool results, every resource is tagged to the seven pillars it supports most. These materials provide targeted guidance to close knowledge and organisational gaps, strengthen your capacity, and improve your readiness to attract blended finance.

You can export results from the Diagnostic Tool and revisit the tool anytime for updates.

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Why it matters

The assessment is not a one-off exercise. It’s part of a learning journey to help you build a robust, finance-ready strategy for net zero. Honest answers give the most useful outputs.

Get started on your investment journey

What is the Diagnostic Tool for?

Before you start