Agenda item

To agree the approach to completion of the Council’s Investment Plan submission for its allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and to authorise a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Business & Economic Growth to approve the final Plan ahead of the 1 August 2022 deadline.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    approves the approach to the development of the UK Shared Prosperity Investment Plan for Tendring District, as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report, to spend the Government’s conditional allocation of £1,188,232; and

(b)    authorises the Portfolio Holder for Business and Economic Growth to approve the final plan for submission to the Government ahead of the deadline of 1 August 2022.

Cabinet considered a detailed report of the Business & Economic Growth Portfolio Holder (A.4) which sought –

(1)    its agreement to the approach to completion of the Council’s Investment Plan submission for its allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and

(2)    a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Business & Economic Growth to approve the final plan ahead of the 1 August 2022 deadline. 

Members were aware that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was part of the Government’s levelling up agenda. This new Fund had replaced European Structural Funds. It provided a total of £2.6 billion of new, mainly revenue, funding for local investment by March 2025. All areas of the UK would receive a conditional allocation from the Fund via a funding formula, rather than a competition. 

It was reported that the primary goal of the UKSPF was to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK. Within this goal there were three UKSPF investment priorities:

·      communities and place;

·      supporting local business; and

·      people and skills.

Cabinet was informed that the District of Tendring had been allocated a total of £1,188,232 via a funding formula designed to be a real-terms match for previous EU structural funds, to be spent over a three year period to 2025. Funding in support of the ‘people and skills’ investment priority could only be accessed in the 2024/25 financial year.

Members were made aware that Tendring District Council (TDC) was the lead local authority for UKSPF in the District of Tendring. Lead local authorities received the area’s allocation of funding to manage, including assessing and approving applications, processing payments and day-to-day monitoring.

In order to access the allocation, TDC was required to produce an Investment Proposal for Government signoff, which prioritised interventions and detailed the measurable outcomes of project delivery. The investment plan would be based around Government intervention types, with measureable outcomes.

Cabinet was advised that partnership working between local authorities and with local partners was strongly encouraged. In line with the funding guidance, a local partnership meeting had been convened by the Council as the lead local authority to engage on the Investment Plan. The Council had also participated in three workshops convened by Essex Chief Executives that had brought together councils across greater Essex to share learning on the development of their investment plans, and had engaged with the North Essex Economic Board on the development of the interventions, in particular for business support.  In addition to district partners, the Council had engaged with health partners, the County Council, the University of Essex and current recipients of the pre-cursor to this fund, the Community Renewal Fund, to engage on plan development and to test project ideas.

It was reported that the core focus of the plan was the “interventions” that the Council planned to fund under the three themes, also referred to as the UKSPF investment priorities. The Government had developed 41 potential interventions. The longer the final list of interventions, the less funding there would be to deliver each one, so there was a balance to be achieved between targeting and spreading investment and so fewer projects might be agreed and therefore funded.

The long list of Tendring District Interventions, by theme was as follows:-

Communities and Place

·      Funding for improvements to town centres and high streets, including accessibility for disabled people

·      Enhanced support for existing cultural, historic and heritage institutions/ E6: Support for local arts, cultural, heritage and creative activities

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

·      Community engagement to support community involvement in decision making in local regeneration.

·      Measures to reduce the cost of living, improve energy efficiency & combat fuel poverty

Supporting Local Business

·      Improvements to town centre retail / markets / service infrastructure, with business support

·      Development/promotion of the visitor economy - incl. attractions, trails, tours and tourism products

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

·      Generalist Business Support Service for all businesses (across all life-stages) inc. business networks / or E30: Business support measures to drive employment growth, particularly in areas of high unemployment

·      Export Grants to support businesses to grow their overseas trading, supporting local employment.

People and Skills (from 2024/5)

·      Courses including basic skills (digital, English and English as a Second Language), and life skills and career skills and financial support

·      Support for employed people to address barriers to education and training

·      Green skills courses

The Government had included a long list of outputs and outcomes to choose from for each intervention, which would be included in the Investment Plan and subsequently monitored by Government. Final interventions, measures and outcomes were subject to consultation with partners and would be approved by the Portfolio Holder. The plan would allocate how much funding and which outcomes and outputs would be delivered against each of those interventions towards each output, and the Government would monitor progress against the outputs.

The Council had engaged both internally and externally to ascertain initial project ideas, and it had received a number of contributions which had helped in framing the interventions in the draft investment plan. The final list of projects would be decided upon, then commissioned by the Council and agreed over Summer 2022, in line with the interventions and measures, ahead of Government signing off the Investment Plan in Autumn 2022.  This would also enable the Council to align relevant projects in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with its Corporate Investment Plan, which was due to come to Cabinet in September 2022.

In order to progress this opportunity to invest over three years in priorities supported by the Council and shared by partners, and to see improvements for residents in the District of Tendring:-

It was moved by Councillor Newton, seconded by Councillor McWilliams and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    approves the approach to the development of the UK Shared Prosperity Investment Plan for Tendring District, as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report, to spend the Government’s conditional allocation of £1,188,232; and

(b)    authorises the Portfolio Holder for Business and Economic Growth to approve the final plan for submission to the Government ahead of the deadline of 1 August 2022.