There was disappointment and anger in May when it was revealed that Cornwall Council didn't bid for government funding from a £635 million pot for assisting public bodies in reducing their carbon footprint. The news killed the growing expectation among St Ives Leisure Centre members that solar panels would be installed on its roof.

Users of the leisure centre said the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding could have had the potential to drastically cut energy bills for the centre, the cost of which is one of the biggest threats to its future.

A Freedom of Information Act (FoI) request revealed that no bids to the fund had been made by Cornwall Council. However, the council said it was not eligible for the funding as the St Ives centre, and others in Cornwall, were operated by a third party.

However, following public pressure – by one St Ives resident in particular – the council has found out it is eligible to bid for funding under the scheme.

In the past few years, major public funding has been available for local authorities to install new heating systems in public buildings to reduce their carbon footprint. The government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has been taking place in several phases and one of the most recent, Phase 3a, distributed over £600m in grants.

For example, funding of £5,174,666 has been provided to Durham County Council to install air source heat pumps in its leisure centres. Nearer to home, Mid Devon District Council was awarded £2,835,102 for two projects to replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps at two leisure centres.

Andrew Moth, from St Ives, recently wrote to Cornwall Council's Conservative Cabinet, as well as other councillors across all parties, as he was unhappy that the council believed it wasn't able to bid for the financial aid because St Ives Leisure Centre, although owned by the local authority, was run by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).

The council told us in May: "Due to the nature of the contracts the council holds with its leisure centre operators, the council is not eligible for the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme."

However, Mr Moth pointed out that other councils, whose facilities were also run by GLL, did receive funds from the scheme.

He said: "To secure their future, Cornwall's leisure centres desperately need to replace outmoded and fossil fuel dependent heating equipment. A bid for money from this fund is vital. At the moment, the Cabinet appear to have the view that they are unable to apply because they believe that they are applying on behalf of a third party, Greenwich Leisure Limited. I believe this view to be erroneous – the leisure centres are public buildings owned by Cornwall Council and I believe that it is possible for them to make a bid."

He said Carterton Leisure Centre in Oxfordshire, through applications by West Oxfordshire District Council, received £1,293,361 in phase 3a and £1,606,968 in phase 3b and Wantage Leisure Centre received £5,992,916 in phase 3b as a result of an application by the Vale of White Horse District Council – both centres were contracted out to GLL.

In an email to Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor, he says: "You say that the council is unable to apply on behalf of third parties. I have studied the Phase 3c Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme guidance notes and also the eligibility criteria including the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

"This is not my field of expertise, but, as far as I can make out, if the council has the freehold of the leisure centres (which it presumably still does) it could make a legitimate application for funding under Phase 3c. They are public buildings. Clearly there are many examples of local authorities who have not encountered this apparent problem of being a third party."

He added: "My firm understanding is that the local authority continues to own the freehold of the leisure centres. If that be the case, surely the council can then make an application for funding? The local authority is the owner of the property and wishes to replace the outdated and carbon producing heating systems within those buildings.

"A successful bid for funds to install heat pumps and other low-carbon schemes at not just St Ives Leisure Centre (which is obviously the one which is uppermost in my mind) but all the Cornish centres would make their future far more secure than is currently the case. A central aim of the council appears to be a healthy population and leisure centres should be at the heart of any policy to achieve that goal. Ensuring their long-term future is vital. A successful application for Phase 3c funding could do just that."

We contacted Cornwall Council, quoting Mr Moth's suggestion that the council had previously been incorrect in its supposition that it couldn't bid for the money. In response, a spokesperson confirmed that it had now discovered it was eligible for a slice of the fund.

The spokesperson said: "Last year we received guidance from South West Net Zero Hub, the regional function of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to say we would not be eligible to bid for funds under the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme due to the operating arrangements of the facilities, but that further guidance would be sought via Salix Finance who administer the fund.

"Salix Finance have recently confirmed via the South West Net Zero Hub that we are eligible to bid for funding under the scheme to support the decarbonisation of council-owned leisure centres operated by a third party.

"Together with our operators GLL and other community providers, we are currently reviewing this new guidance to determine our next steps. We continue discussions with our network of leisure providers to support Cornwall's leisure centres in moving to renewable electricity sources, for example the possibility of installing solar panels at St Ives Leisure Centre. As part of those discussions we are working with our operators to ensure we identify future funding opportunities and that our new leisure strategy addresses the challenges facing the leisure sector.

"Currently we are working with our leisure operators that deliver swimming provision to respond to the Government's £63m national Swimming Pool Support Fund for local authorities. £20m has been made available nationally to support increased revenue costs – £40m of this funding will soon be made available for capital investment to improve energy efficiency of public facilities."

Mr Moth said he was delighted that the position regarding Cornwall Council's ability to bid for funds from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund had been clarified.

He added: "It is also good news that they are hoping to gain funds from the £63m which Jeremy Hunt made available in his March budget for helping swimming pools to meet the inflated costs which they now face. My only concern is that the two funds – which are entirely separate – do not get confused in people's minds. I welcome the news that a bid for funds from Mr Hunt's £63m pot is imminent but this must not detract from preparing a bid for the much larger sums (£250m) available from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund."

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