In relation to the allocation of £27,750.00 that was returned from the Communities and Place theme due to a project not being deliverable within Year 4 of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Leisure has decided the following:
a)To award £10,00.00 to The Harwich Electric Palace Trust; and
b) To award £17,750.00 to Manifest Theatre.

The Communities and Place Open Call funding of £138,101.00 for UKSPF, along with allocations for the other two priorities for UKSPF, this was fully awarded, with recommendations from a panel of Tendring District Council officers on 9 July 2025 and a decision by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism on 22 July 2025 The highest-scoring projects received grant offer letters setting out the grant terms and conditions. All funding for the REPF was also fully allocated following the same process to the projects receiving the highest scores.
One of the grant recipients awarded funding under the Communities and Place priority for UKSPF has since returned their grant after being unable to deliver the approved project. As a result, Tendring District Council now has £27,750.00 in returned grant funding.
The returned funding of £27,750.00 was re-offered to community-led projects that were unsuccessful in the previous round of the REPF. The REPF projects were scored under the criteria that was agreed on the Cabinet Report on the 23 May 2025.
Four projects were identified because their proposals align with the Communities and Place priority and achieved the highest scores among the unsuccessful applicants.
Three of the identified projects retuned a completed application form. The applications were scored by a panel on the 16 March 2026. Two of the applications received the same score: The Harwich Electric Palace Trust and Manifest Theatre.
Following discussion, the panel has agreed on the following approach for allocating the funding:
•Award £10,000.00 to The Harwich Electric Palace Trust, as their application confirms that the project can still proceed and be delivered with the minimum funding of £10,000.00.
•Award the remaining £17,750.00 to Manifest Theatre, as their cost breakdown includes a contingency of £5,640.00, which would offset the £2,250.00 shortfall.

Not to reallocate the funds and return the money to MHCLG.