UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Updates

December 2022

Wyre Forest boost from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Wyre Forest District Council has been informed that its Investment Plan for funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been approved. The district has been awarded £3.155 million over the next three years.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is part of the Government’s Levelling Up agenda. It provides £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025. All areas of the UK will receive an allocation from the Fund. The fund replaces the current EU structural funds, which will have finished by the end of 2023. The primary goal of the UKSPF is to help build pride in place and to help to increase life chances across the UK.

Improving town centres and high streets, promoting the visitor economy and helping people back into employment are a few of the priorities Wyre Forest District Council is supporting in its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Investment Plan which was submitted to Government on Monday 1 August 2022.

As part of our investment plan, Wyre Forest District Council selected specific interventions and the outputs and outcomes to be achieved through this funding. The interventions Wyre Forest have selected for support in 2022/23 are:

Community and Place

E1: Funding for improvements to town centres and high streets, including better accessibility for disabled people, including capital spend and running costs.

E2: Funding for new or improvements to existing, communities’ and neighbourhood infrastructure projects including those that increase communities’ resilience to natural hazards such as flooding

E3: Creation of and improvements to local green spaces, community gardens, watercourses and embankments, along with incorporating natural features into wider public spaces

E4: Enhanced support for existing cultural, historic and heritage institutions that make up the local cultural heritage offer.

E6: Support for local arts, cultural and creative activities.

E7: Support for active travel enhancements in the local area

E8: Funding for the development and promotion of wider campaigns which encourage people to visit and explore the local area.

E10: Funding for local sports facilities, tournaments, teams and leagues; to bring people together

E11: Investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups.

E12: Investment in community engagement schemes to support community involvement in decision making in local regeneration.

E14: Funding to support relevant feasibility studies.

Supporting Local Businesses

E17: Funding for the development and promotion (both trade and consumer) of the visitor economy, such as local attractions, trails, tours and tourism products more generally.

E19: Increasing investment in research and development at the local level. Investment to support the diffusion of innovation knowledge and activities. Support the commercialisation of ideas, encouraging collaboration and accelerating the path to market.

E20: Research and development grants supporting the development of innovative products and services

E21: Funding for the development and support of appropriate innovation infrastructure at the local level

E23: Strengthening local entrepreneurial ecosystems and supporting businesses at all stages of their development to start, sustain, grow and innovate, including through local networks

E24: Funding for new and improvements to existing training hubs, business support offers, “incubators” and “accelerators” for local enterprise (including social enterprise) which can support entrepreneurs and start-ups through the early stages of development and growth

E29: Supporting decarbonisation and improving the natural environment whilst growing the local economy. Taking a whole systems approach to invest in infrastructure to deliver effective decarbonisation across energy, buildings and transport and beyond in line with our legally binding climate target. Maximising existing or emerging local strengths in low carbon technologies, goods and services to take advantage of the growing global opportunity

E30: Business support measures to drive employment growth, particularly in areas of higher unemployment.

E33: Employment support for economically inactive people; intensive wrap-around one to one support to move people closer towards mainstream provision and employment, supplemented by additional and/or specialist life and basic skills support where there are local provision gaps

E34: Courses including basic skills (digital, English and ESOL) and life skills and career skills provision for people who are unable to access training through the adult education budget or wrap around support

E35: Activities such as enrichment and volunteering to improve opportunities and promote wellbeing

E36: Intervention to increase levels of digital including with a focus on essential digital skills, communicating the benefits of getting (safely) online and in-community support to provide users with the confidence and trust to stay online

E37: Tailored support to help people in employment, who are not supported by mainstream provision to address barriers to accessing education and training courses

E38: Support for local areas to fund local skills needs. This includes technical and vocational qualifications and courses up to level 2 and training for vocational licences relevant to local area needs and high-value qualifications where there is a need for additional skills capacity that cannot be met through mainstream funding

E41: Funding to support local digital skills

We will be in touch shortly with the organisations and businesses that put forward relevant project proposals.

What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund?

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

The primary goal of the Fund is to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by:

Boosting productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector
Spreading opportunities and improve public services
Restoring a sense of community, local pride and belonging
Empowering local leaders and communities.

For more information on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

How much funding has Wyre Forest secured?
Wyre Forest has been allocated £3,155,009 for local investment through the Shared Prosperity Fund.

What are we going to do with the funding in Wyre Forest?
Our allocation of the UK SPF will be used to fund projects that will deliver our priority of a safe, clean and green living environment.

We will maximise the benefits of our environment through projects to improve local green spaces and watercourses.

We will continue to invest in our town centres and high streets, identifying new regeneration opportunities and ensuring community involvement in decision making.

We will support the visitor economy in Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley and create opportunities for residents and visitors to be active, creative and to make the most of the local cultural and heritage offer.

The fund will be used to deliver our priority of supporting a successful local economy. We will invest in projects to help businesses to start, sustain, grow and innovate. Projects will support decarbonisation and improve the natural environment whilst growing the local economy.

We will work to reduce barriers to employment and to help those furthest from the jobs market. We will support residents to develop skills that are in high demand and to access local employment opportunities.