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UK Shared Prosperity Fund

As part of the Levelling Up agenda, Government launched the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) to support local places across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The funds have been made available to invest and empower local communities to make a real difference, enable local decision making and better target the specific priorities of places.

South Holland is set to benefit from £3.39million of new funding through UKSPF and REPF. Working within the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP), the local authority is inviting eligible organisations to submit expressions of interest for projects which will help to build pride in place, provide high quality skills training and increase life chances across the district. The council will be seeking to invest and expend all funds by 31 March 2025.

Investment in local projects and programmes will be focused around three key themes, with further priorities identified by the Council as part of the original application process:

  • Communities and place: Supporting community groups and investment in community facilities; enhancing the cultural and heritage offer; widening the use of community buildings; initiatives to help support our town centres.
  • Support local business: Helping local businesses invest for future growth; growing the food processing, horticulture and logistics sector; encouraging new businesses to establish; helping the local social and community enterprises to innovate and grow.
  • People and skills: Developing skills and employment opportunities within the fresh food, food processing and logistics sectors; creating new training hubs; supporting local residents with skills and access to employment.

The RPF allocation will be invested into projects that support the two main Investment Priorities, or "Themes":

  1. Supporting new and existing rural businesses to develop - supporting the development of new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams
  2. Supporting new and improved community infrastructure to benefit local businesses and residents - providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

Both funds will be administered by South Holland District Council, who is also the decision making body responsible for the management and distribution of funds. In order to put a project forward, we are requesting that interested parties start with the completion of an expression of interest. There is no set deadline for expression of interests and the council will assess projects on their impact, need and strategic fit with the outputs and outcomes covered within the Prospectus.

Although South Holland District Council is the decision maker for the funds, the assessment process will take into account the feedback and expertise of local organisations, businesses and community groups through the use of both Themes and a Local Partnership Groups. Details of the assessment process are set out within the prospectus.

The Council is looking for carefully considered and well thought out projects which cover one or more of the above UKSPF Investment Themes and desired outcomes across the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25. We are also seeking projects that can bring benefits to and be jointly funded across the wider SELCP area, incorporating East Lindsey and Boston.

The South & East Lincolnshire Council Partnership's UKSPF Prospectus provides guidance to organisations that wish to bid for UKSPF and REPF funding to support projects. This includes some frequently asked questions, the desired outcomes that projects need to deliver against and the spend/type of spend allocated against each financial year.

Please note, as of 05/12/2023, we are now closed to Expressions of Interest under the Communities and Place Theme. If you submitted an Expression of Interest under this theme before this date, it will be considered for a Round Five UKSPF Award. You may still be able to access UKSPF funding under the UKSPF-funded Lincolnshire Community Foundation GRASSroots Community Grants Programme, which provides grants to a maximum of £25,000 in support of parishes, village halls, community spaces and community projects. More details can be found here: https://lincolnshirecf.co.uk/grants/ukspf/

Projects will not be assessed on a first come, first served basis and we encourage carefully thought through proposals. Due to the timescales associated, we will prioritise the assessment and verification of projects that have spend this financial year.

If you are the owner of a Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) in search of funding, please visit Grants4Growth Home Page - Grants 4 Growth (sholland.gov.uk). The Grants4Growth programme has been funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with £1.85million which aims to boost employment opportunities and bring wider benefits across South & East Lincolnshire. 

Alternatively, grants of up to £24,999 are available for parish and town projects through the Lincolnshire Community Foundation (LCF). the LCF was awarded nearly £1.3million for a new grants scheme which aims to help boost small community groups and projects. This could be through building pride in place by improving community facilities, creating opportunities to bring people together or creating social connections that will grow and thrive.

Projects are encouraged to make contact and find out more through the LCF's Grants Page at www.lincolnshirecf.co.uk, where the application form can be found. Alternatively, more information can be found by contacting helen@lincolnshirecf.co.uk or calling 01529 305825