Agenda item

Members heard from the Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities regarding an update on the progress with the delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme (UKSPF), which began at the start of 2023 and was now in its final year of delivery. It was explained that UKSPF was part of the current government’s flagship ‘Levelling Up’ agenda. West Lindsey was allocated £2.7million from the fund, with a further £795k from the Rural England fund (REPF). Designed to replace European funding post Brexit, Councils were required to submit an investment plan which set out how the funds would be invested. This work was completed in the summer of 2022, signed off by a concurrent meeting of the Prosperous Communities and Corporate Policy and Resources Committees, and was followed by committee sign off of three full business cases, one for each investment theme:

·         Supporting local business

·         Communities and place

·         People and skills.

Members were advised of the 12 interventions that had been funded and it was explained that expenditure on the programme was reported quarterly to the Corporate Policy & Resources Committee, alongside narrative for each intervention. It was highlighted that spend of the UKSPF / REPF was at 38% of total grant at the end of the financial year, with the majority of expenditure to be achieved in the final year of delivery, as was expected in any grant funded programme.

The contracted monitoring requirements were set out, with the most recent year-end report having been signed off by government. The contents of the appendices were detailed for Members, highlighting the outputs achieved to date, an oversight of the geographic spread of funding being distributed across the district, and an infographic giving a snapshot of progress to date.

Members heard that the next ten months would see a focus on ensuring delivery to March 2025, however there was no funding certainty beyond that point. The paper under consideration recommended that Members receive the final programme evaluation in due course, together with options for the future, as soon as more was known regarding how any future programme may be funded.

The Committee expressed their thanks for a detailed and comprehensive report. In response to a question regarding the recruitment to the post of a ‘green spaces officer’, it was confirmed that the funding was only secured for that post until the end of the grants period, that being March 2025. Therefore, it would no longer be possible to employ someone on a two year contract.

There was further discussion regarding the geographical spread of funding across the district and the need to involve smaller localities, particularly those where there may not be other funding opportunities open to them. Members were assured that all funding options were reviewed and with additional streams being available, Officers would be looking to work with Members to identify those communities where monies could be best used.

Having been proposed and seconded, and with thanks again to all involved, the Chairman took the vote and it was unanimously

            RESOLVED that

a)    the progress on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Programme to date be noted; and

b)    an evaluation of the programme be reported to the Prosperous Communities Committee, in line with government reporting requirements, at the end of the programme; and

c)    options for future interventions aligned with the programme be developed for future consideration by Members, using learning and experience from the delivery of this programme to ensure the Council is able to respond to any future funding opportunities.