Ayrshire communities set to benefit from UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Councillors welcomed news of East Ayrshire’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), as outlined in a report presented to Cabinet this morning. East Ayrshire will receive £6.103 million as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which was formally launched on 13 April 2022 by the UK Government.
In total, the UKSPF will provide £2.6 billion over the next three years to fund a range of projects across the UK, focussing on communities and space; supporting local business; and people and skills. The Fund aims to replace EU funding which was previously available through the European Structural Funds, namely the European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund, and to do so in a way which is more flexible and locally-led, thereby spreading opportunity and reducing geographical disparities.
The Fund also includes a new £559 million adult numeracy programme for the whole of the UK. ‘Multiply’ will support people with no or low level maths skills to return to work, offering free personal tutoring, digital training and flexible courses to improve confidence and numeracy skills. This programme will be open to adults aged 19 or over who have not previously attained a SCQF level 5 or higher maths qualification.
Scotland’s share of the UKSPF is £212 million, over three years, between 2022 and 2025. East Ayrshire will receive core UKSPF funding of £5.049 million, with a further £1.054 million for Multiply. This provides total funding of £6.103 million for East Ayrshire.
While the funding allocation will delivered locally, it is proposed that a pan-Ayrshire approach will be applied to the delivery of the programme, reflecting the well-established partnership processes which have been developed across the three Ayrshire authorities. The Ayrshire Regional Economic Joint Committee will ensure that plans for the three authorities are aligned to wider regional approaches in Ayrshire. The total allocation for the Ayrshire Economic Partnership is £17.353 million (made up of £14.356 million in UKSPF core funding and £2.997 million for Multiply).
In order to access the funding, local authorities will be required to complete an investment plan, setting out how they intend to use and deliver the funding. Climate change will feature prominently in the assessment of applications as investment proposals will be required to demonstrate how they will contribute to net zero and nature recovery objectives at a local and national level.
The window for submitting investment applications runs from 30 June until 1 August 2022 but discussions are currently taking place with the UK Government to consider extending these timescales to give the newly elected Scottish Council administrations more time to consider local investment proposals.
Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of East Ayrshire Council welcomed news of this funding. He said: “East Ayrshire benefitted extensively from European funding in the past, and with this funding source now drawing to a close, we welcome the opportunities this new funding stream can bring.
“I very much look forward to working with our colleagues in North and South Ayrshire councils to develop investment plans which will benefit communities all across Ayrshire, and which will compliment some of the work we are already delivering in partnership through the Ayrshire Growth Deal.”