Closed to new applications
Latest
Stage 1 applications have been assessed and applicants have been informed of the decision.
Successful applicants have been invited to proceed to prepare a detailed Stage 2 application.
- The fund is now closed, and we cannot accept any more applications.
- The first call for UKSPF projects in North Wales closed on 24 February 2023.
- 87 applications totalling in excess of £80m were submitted naming Anglesey as a target delivery location. The funds requested were significantly greater than the sum available to Anglesey and unfortunately this meant that a number of projects could not be supported which is disappointing news to many organisations.
Original information
The first call for UKSPF projects in North Wales is now live and will remain open until midday on 24 February 2023. Read the sections below for more details.
Overview of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and will provide £2.6 billion of funding for local investment across the UK by March 2025.
The overarching objective of the Fund is:
Building pride in place and increasing life chances
The UKSPF aims to achieve this through three investment priorities:
- Community and Place
- Supporting Local Business
- People and Skills (including adult numeracy)
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund Prospectus provides a comprehensive overview of the fund.
All the documentation relating to the fund is published by UK Government.
Shared Prosperity Fund: Anglesey
All parts of the UK will receive some of the funding, which is allocated to individual areas based on a formula determined by the UK Government. Local Authorities are responsible for the delivery of the Fund.
In Wales, local areas must work with others within their region to deliver the Fund. The North Wales Region includes the counties of Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey.
A total of £126.46 million has been allocated form the UKSPF to North Wales. The total includes £21.84 million which must be used to support adult numeracy (the Multiply Programme).
The allocation for each individual Local Authority area is as follows:
- Isle of Anglesey: £16,081,937
- Gwynedd: £24,423,747
- Conwy: £24,520,120
- Denbighshire: £25,647,958
- Flintshire: £13,102,933
- Wrexham: £22,684,205
The funding includes both capital and revenue money for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025.
On 5 December 2022, the UK Government announced that the money will be coming to North Wales, but the funds will only be confirmed by the UK Government for one financial year at a time.
Delivery of the UKSPF in Anglesey
To minimise cost and complexity, Local Authorities in North Wales will work together to administer the UKSPF. However, the decisions as to where the money will be spent will be taken locally in each area.
The first opportunity to submit applications for funding is now open and will close at midday on 24 February 2023. Future opportunities to submit bids may be opened if funds remain available.
Local Authorities will decide which projects will receive money, whilst being advised by a partnership of local stakeholders.
Applicants can submit an application for projects delivering in one or more Local Authority area. Each area will determine whether or not they wish to support an application.
What the UKSPF will support
The objectives for each of three UKSPF Investment priorities - communities and place, supporting local business and people and skills - are outlined in UKSPF Prospectus.
For Wales, 53 UKSPF interventions are permitted covering the three investment priorities and the Multiply programme:
Interventions list for Wales
Any project funded by the UKSPF must address one, or more, of these interventions.
Every project must also deliver one or more of the outputs and outcomes published by the UK Government:
Important things to know
- The timescale for delivery of the UKSF is short; in practice, all projects will need to be completed and final claims submitted by 31 December 2024, to allow time for closure of the programme.
- Considering the short period available for delivery, we will be seeking larger, strategic projects. All projects submitted must seek at least £250,000 of UKSPF funds.
- To enable local businesses, organisations and communities seeking smaller amounts of support to access UKSPF funds; most local authorities will be looking to establish local intermediary funds, providing a simplified application, approval and monitoring regime. Information on these funds will appear on individual Local Authorities websites as it becomes available. N.b. please do not submit applications for these intermediary funds to this open call process.
- As noted previously, although the UK Government has announced the UKSPF allocations for the period up-to 31 March 2025, the funding is only confirmed on an annual basis. The funding agreements provided by North Wales Local Authorities to successful applicants will reflect this. Any applicant, committing to expenditure beyond the period for which funding is confirmed will do so at their own risk.
- The eligible period for expenditure under the UKSPF began on 1 April 2022. Applicants may therefore seek an element of retrospective expenditure within their applications where appropriate. Note that any expenditure incurred by applicants prior to signing a grant funding agreement will be entirely at their own risk.
- The UKSPF includes both capital and revenue funding. Applicants can choose to submit applications for capital only project, revenue only projects or projects seeking a combination of both.
- Operating in compliance with the new UK subsidy control regime which began on 4 January 2023, will be a key requirement for any project. All applicants should familiarise themselves with the requirements of the regime: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/subsidy-control-regime
- Given the constrained circumstances for the delivery of the UKSPF, confidence in the deliverability of submitted proposals will be a key consideration for Local Authorities alongside the capacity and capability of applicant organisations.
Project selection
Decision making will be made locally, taking into account comments from the Anglesey UK SPF Partnership Group. The final decision lies with the Local Authority through the Anglesey UK SPF Programme Board.
Considerations will include:
- the alignment of proposals with UKSPF priority investments and interventions;
- proposals' anticipated outputs and outcomes;
- additionality and alignment of proposed projects with current and planned activity;
- deliverability and the capacity / capability of the applicant (including awareness of legal and regulatory requirements)
- alignment with national, regional and especially local strategies, priorities and needs;
Local areas will consider the overall mix of activities proposed as well as individual proposals to ensure the needs of their localities are addressed and the objectives of the UKSPF investment priorities are addressed.
How to apply
Applications for UKSPF funding on Anglesey will follow a two-stage process in line with the regional approach:
Stage 1: submission of outline project application
Stage 2: submission of detailed project application
We will prioritise and select projects on the basis of their stage 1 outline application.
Selected projects will be invited to prepare and submit a stage 2 detailed application, which will provide further information on the proposal. Formal grant funding agreements will be issued following appraisal of the stage 2 detailed application.
Submit a stage 1 outline project application
Consider the eligibility of your proposal by reviewing the UKSPF interventions, outputs and outcomes and its alignment with the needs and aspirations of the locality / localities in which you wish to operate.
Read the guidance for submitting a stage 1 outline project application and gather all the required information by reviewing the offline version of the stage 1 application form (the offline version is provided as an editable document to help you prepare).
Follow the link to the online application to complete and submit your stage 1 outline project application before midday on Friday 24 February 2023 (note that only applications submitted via the online portal will be considered).
Closed to new applications.
The next steps once applications are received will be:
- The application will be appraised by the relevant local Shared Prosperity Fund team (projects seeking to deliver in one Local Authority area only) or the regional Shared Prosperity Fund team (projects seeking to deliver in more than one Local Authority area).
- Views sought form relevant stakeholders.
- Anglesey UK SPF Partnership Group will have sight of the projects and provide comments to the Local Authority (Programme Board).
- Local Authority / Authorities decide which projects they wish to support.
- Applicants are advised of decision.
- Successful applicants are invited to prepare and submit stage 2 detailed project application
- Once received, stage 2 detailed project applications are appraised and final due diligence of applicants completed.
- Local authority / authorities confirm final decision on application.
- Formal grant funding agreements, detailing the claims process, will be issued by regional team on behalf of the Local Authority.
In submitting an application, you will authorise the council(s) to make any necessary enquiries to check any information that is required for the administration of the UKSPF programme. The information you provide may also be shared with others as stated within our privacy notice.
Isle of Anglesey County Council welcomes the UK Government’s announcement on 5 December 2022 that the North Wales Regional Investment plan for the Shared Prosperity Fund has been approved.
We look forward to opening the application process once we receive formal notice of the funding decision and grant agreement.
The Regional Investment Plan was submitted to the UK Government on 1 August 2022. Since then, the six local authorities in North Wales have been working hard to make preparations for managing the fund on the assumption that the plan would be accepted.
It should be noted, however, that details of how the Shared Prosperity Fund will be provided have remained uncertain. Consequently, Isle of Anglesey County Council - in line with its neighbouring North Wales local authorities - will only be able to progress applications once the required details have been received and considered.
We hope to launch Anglesey’s Shared Prosperity Fund as soon as practicably possible, but know that will be early 2023 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the following information will be of interest to potential applicants (and is consistent across North Wales):
- We are committed to the principle of local decision making.
- North Wales is seeking to have a 2-stage process so applicants can get an early sense of whether their proposal is likely to be supported.
- Flexibility will be built in, to facilitate projects looking to deliver in one local authority (LA), every LA in North Wales, or a combination of LAs.
- We anticipate that UKSPF applications will be generally be larger in scale (that is, with a value of over £250k). All local areas are looking to establish intermediary funds to support smaller projects by communities and businesses.
- We will need to commit funds early in the programme as time for delivery is short (by March 2025).
- Current advice for potential applicants is to not simply wait for the systems and structures to be in place. Groundwork can be done now, and there is nothing to preclude starting to engage with partners and stakeholders about potential activities to ensure they are well developed and have broad support when the time comes.
- All potential applicants are encouraged to review the interventions list published by UK Government, along with their associated outputs and outcomes.