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UK Shared Prosperity Fund

As part of the Levelling Up agenda, Government launched the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) to support local places across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The funds have been made available to invest and empower local communities to make a real difference, enable local decision making and better target the specific priorities of places.

Boston Borough is set to benefit from £2.62 million of new funding through UKSPF and REPF. Working within the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP), the local authority is inviting eligible organisations to submit expressions of interest for projects which will help to build pride in place, provide high quality skills training and increase life chances across the borough. The council will be seeking to invest and expend all funds by 31 March 2025.

Investment in local projects and programmes will be focused around three key themes, with further priorities identified by the Council as part of the original application process:

  • Communities and place: Developing and promoting Boston's heritage; addressing the challenges of integration and inclusion with migrant workers; supporting the High Street; investment in community facilities; enhancing the cultural and heritage offer.
  • Support local business: Helping local businesses invest for future growth; encouraging new businesses to establish; helping local social and community enterprises to innovate and grow; diversifying the local economy; encouraging investment in new technologies.
  • People and skills: Supporting social enterprises to deliver training and development in the community; engaging both the migrant population and over 65's in training and development activity.

The RPF allocation will be invested into projects that support the two main Investment Priorities, or "Themes":

  1. Supporting new and existing rural businesses to develop - supporting the development of new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams
  2. Supporting new and improved community infrastructure to benefit local businesses and residents - providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

Both funds will be administered by Boston Borough Council, who is also the decision making body responsible for the management and distribution of funds. In order to put a project forward, we are requesting that interested parties start with the completion of an expression of interest. There is no set deadline for expression of interests and the council will assess projects on their impact, need and strategic fit with the outputs and outcomes covered within the Prospectus.

Although Boston Borough Council is the decision maker for the funds, the assessment process will take into account the feedback and expertise of local organisations, businesses and community groups through the use of both Themes and a Local Partnership Groups. Details of the assessment process are set out within the prospectus.

The Council is looking for carefully considered and well thought out projects which cover one or more of the above UKSPF Investment Themes and desired outcomes across the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25. We are also seeking projects that can bring benefits to and be jointly funded across the wider SELCP area, incorporating East Lindsey and South Holland.

The South & East Lincolnshire Council Partnership's UKSPF Prospectus provides guidance to organisations that wish to bid for UKSPF and REPF funding to support projects. This includes some frequently asked questions, the desired outcomes that projects need to deliver against and the spend/type of spend allocated against each financial year.

Both the Prospectus and Expression of Interest can be found below*:

*Please note, in order to complete the expression of interest form, please download it to your device, complete it and then email it to UKSPF@sholland.gov.uk

Projects will not be assessed on a first come, first served basis and we encourage carefully thought through proposals. Due to the timescales associated, we will prioritise the assessment and verification of projects that have spend this financial year.

Having read the Prospectus, if you wish to submit an Expression of Interest please complete the form above. Please note: When opening the Expression of Interest attachment on a Mac or Macbook, make sure you are using an Adobe Acrobat programme to fill in your Expression of Interest form. You can do this by right clicking on the file and selecting 'Open with' on the drop down. Click on 'Adobe Acrobat' to open the file.

If you are having difficulties submitting the Expression of Interest using the PDF version please email us at UKSPF@sholland.gov.uk and we can forward a word document for you to complete.

Should you have any questions on the fund, prospectus or expression of interest, please contact UKSPF@sholland.gov.uk