What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund?
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF or the Fund) is a central pillar of the UK government’s ambitious Levelling Up agenda and a significant component of its support for places across the UK. It provides £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation from the Fund via a funding formula rather than a competition. It will help places right across the country deliver enhanced outcomes and recognises that even the most affluent parts of the UK contain pockets of deprivation and need support.
It seizes the opportunities of leaving the European Union, by investing in domestic priorities and targeting funding where it is needed most: building pride in place, supporting high quality skills training, supporting pay, employment and productivity growth and increasing life chances. It will reduce the levels of bureaucracy and funding spent on administration when compared with EU funds. It will enable truly local decision making and better target the priorities of places within the UK. It will lead to visible, tangible improvements to the places where people work and live, alongside investment in human capital, giving communities up and down the UK more reasons to be proud of their area.
Places will be empowered to identify and build on their own strengths and needs at a local level, focused on pride in place and increasing life chances. Local places will be able to use the Fund to complement funding such as the Levelling Up Fund, and mainstream employment and skills provision to maximise impact and simplify delivery.
The Fund’s interventions will be planned and delivered by councils and mayoral authorities across England, Scotland and Wales – ‘lead local authorities’, working closely with local partners and the Scottish and Welsh governments.
In Scotland and Wales we want to use existing strategic geographies and local authorities to draw on the insight and expertise of local partners, including businesses, the voluntary sector and Members of Parliament to target interventions where most appropriate.
In Northern Ireland, UK government will have oversight of the Fund. We want to work closely with local partners to design a Northern Ireland investment plan. We will refine the plan in consultation with stakeholders in a way that reflects the needs of Northern Ireland’s economy and society. This group could include representatives from Northern Ireland Executive Departments, local authorities, businesses and the community and voluntary sector.
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