UK Shared Prosperity Fund - Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 16 March 2023
Back to Policy and Strategy Committee — 16 March 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Policy & Strategy Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref UKSPF/YW Date 16/03/23 UK Shared Prosperity Fund – Update From Pamela Humphries, Chief Officer (Place) E-mail Weiry@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Yvonne Weir 07508 001238 Executive Summary This report provides an update in relation to the North Lanarkshire Investment Plan for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. As previously reported North Lanarkshire received a conditional allocation of £13,871,047, providing a mix of capital and revenue funding for projects which meet the UKSPF’s three investment priorities: communities and place; support for local businesses and people and skills. North Lanarkshire’s investment priorities, interventions, outputs and outcomes were submitted as part of a Glasgow City Region (GCR) Investment Plan on 1st September 2022 and were approved by the UK Government on 5th December. Glasgow City Council, on behalf of GCR, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government and accepted the Grant Determination Letters in December and are now in receipt of the first year’s (2022/23) allocation of funding. Work is now being undertaken to develop a pass- down agreement and associated assurance framework to be signed by the 8 member authorities to be followed by the distribution of the initial tranche of funding to each authority. To prepare for the first report to the UK Government, due in March 2023, officers are reviewing the projected spend and outputs/outcomes set out in the North Lanarkshire Investment Plan with a view to reprofiling both spend, outputs and outcomes. No substantive changes to planned activity are foreseen at this stage. This will be submitted to the UK Government along with a credible plan to deliver 2022/23 spend during 2023/24, and once approved will release the second year’s funding allocation. A UKSPF Project Board has been established, chaired by the Chief Officer (Place) as the Senior Responsible Officer. The main responsibilities of the Board are set out in paragraph 2.5 of this report and this report is seeking approval for the proposed governance arrangements and delegated authority to the Board to: • Approve quarterly and six-monthly reports for submission to GCR and UK Govt • Approve financial changes both within and between approved interventions, and where changes are less than 30% between investment priorities • Approve changes to outputs and outcomes at intervention level • Approve guidance for the delivery of challenge funds and oversee implementation of these funds in line with the guidance
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1. Background 1.1 As previously reported to the Enterprise, Growth and Fair Work Committee in August 2022, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF or the Fund) is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda. All areas of the UK received a conditional allocation of funding based on a funding formula rather than direct competition for the funds. A total of £212m has been allocated to Scotland (8.4% of the UK total). The share accruing to Scotland is broadly equivalent to its share of EU Structural Funds for the 2014-20 period. The 8 authorities within Glasgow City Region received a combined conditional allocation of £73,874,280. It was agreed by the 8 Glasgow City Region local authorities that a single Investment Plan would be submitted for the GCR area made up of investment plans from each of the 8 local authorities rolled up into a high-level plan. 1.2 North Lanarkshire received a conditional allocation of £13,871,047 of which £11,475,645 is core UKSPF funding and £2,395,402 is ringfenced for delivery of activity under Multiply (to improve adult numeracy skills). The UK Government will allow 4% of the allocated funding to be used to support fund management, monitoring and administration. Where more substantial changes are required, as outlined in paragraph 2.8, these would be subject to committee approval. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: (1) Acknowledges the work that is underway to re-profile 2022/23 budget allocations and submit an updated plan to the UK Government in March 2023. (2) Agrees the proposed governance arrangements and delegated authority requirements as set out in section 2 (Governance); (3) Endorse the proposal to provide an annual progress report to committee on the delivery of the Shared Prosperity Fund. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions
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1.3 As previously approved by committee, the council’s distribution of UKSPF can be summarised as follows: Investment Priority Yr1 UKSPF Yr2 UKSPF Yr3 UKSPF TOTAL UKSPF Communities & Place £506,427 £350,000 £2,265,000 £3,121,427 Supporting Local Business £91,541 £746,083 £1,667,738 £2,505,362 People and Skills £739,000 £1,577,854 £3,072,976 £5,389,830 Multiply £695,223 £802,181 £802,181 £2,299,585 NLC Management/Admin 4% £84,675 £144,838 £325,329 £554,842 TOTAL £2,116,866 £3,620,955 £8,133,224 £13,871,045 1.4 Appendix 1 of this report provides a breakdown of the proposed interventions and activities to be delivered under each of the above Investment Priorities. 2. Report North Lanarkshire Investment Plan 2.1 North Lanarkshire’s UKSPF Investment Plan was submitted as part of the Glasgow City Region Investment Plan on 1st September 2022, which was subsequently approved by the UK Government on 5th December 2022. Glasgow City Council (GCC), as lead authority, subsequently signed the Memorandum of Understanding and accepted the offer of UKSPF grant. As a result, year 1 funds were received by GCC on 30 December 2022. Work is now being undertaken to develop a pass-down agreement to be signed by the 8 member authorities and a UKSPF Assurance Framework that will set out the governance arrangements for the management, monitoring and reporting of the UKSPF Programme. 2.2 Due to the delays in receiving approval of Investment Plans, the UK Government recognise that there is a need to reprofile the expected spend between years 1 and 2 of the UKSPF programme. As part of the first reporting point, now due in March 2023, lead authorities are expected to submit a credible plan for any underspend from 2022/23 to be spent in 2023/24 and any resulting change to outputs and outcomes. Officers are currently reviewing the interventions in the NL Investment Plan to prepare the information required for submission to GCR, where it will then be collated into a reporting return for the UK Government. At this point, all year 1 underspend must be allocated and spent in year 2 of the programme, with no opportunity at the current time to reprofile between year 2 and year 3.
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Governance 2.3 Within the council, a governance structure and assurance framework for the UKSPF is being designed to ensure there is appropriate oversight, accountability, management, monitoring and reporting of the delivery of the NL Investment Plan. This will reflect the GCR and UK Government guidance and requirements along with our own internal governance procedures. 2.4 A UKSPF Project Board has been established to provide overall leadership and oversight of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan for North Lanarkshire. 2023. The Board is chaired by the Chief Officer (Place) and includes senior representatives from key services responsible for delivery or commissioning of activity and key support services notably from the council’s financial services teams. An internal working group, chaired by the Enterprise Manager, continues to meet on a monthly basis to bring together project lead officers to oversee monitoring of activity across each of the 3 investment themes and the Multiply interventions. 2.5 The terms of reference for the Board are set out below: • monitor the progress of the overall UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan programme for North Lanarkshire; • ensure the Investment Plan programme is focussed on delivering the approved outcomes as set out in the Investment Plan funding agreement • monitor the risk and issues register for the programme and agree mitigation; • monitor spend against approved budget within the Investment Plan and approve any virements or change requests in line with grant conditions to help secure funding for North Lanarkshire • approve delivery plans/ project proposals that support the delivery of the Investment Plan and outcome targets. • ensure the Programme is delivered in line with the council’s procurement strategy, General Contract Standing Orders, and Project management guidance/procedures, and in compliance with the guidance and grant conditions outlined by the UK Government; • ensure the necessary monitoring, reporting and compliance arrangements are in place to meet the UK Government and GCR reporting and grant conditions • ensure strategic alignment with the Plan for North Lanarkshire and other council programmes • provide strategic direction to the internal Project Manager and Working Group; • approval of the signing off of required documentation within the Programme timeframe; • ensure the ongoing evaluation and capturing of lessons learned during the lifetime of the Programme. 2.6 Management of the UKSPF will be in line with the council’s Project Management Framework and project plans are currently being developed to provide updated spend and outcome details to inform the required reprofiling exercise. Progress reports incorporating a RAG status will be presented to the UKSPF Project Board at each meeting and consideration will be given to any changes that are being requested.
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2.7 In order to ensure the effective delivery of the overall Programme and minimise risk of underspend, delegated authority to the Board is sought to: • Approve quarterly and six-monthly reports for submission to GCR and UK Govt • Approve financial changes both within and between interventions, and where changes are less than 30% between investment priorities. • Approve changes to outputs and outcomes at intervention level • Approve guidance for the delivery of challenge funds and oversee implementation of these funds in line with the guidance 2.8 Any proposed changes to the NL UKSPF Investment Plan that are more substantial will be reported to Committee for approval. These include where: • Administrative costs are expected to be more than 4% • There is a proposed move of more than 30% between investment priority themes (e.g. between Communities and Place, Supporting Local Business, and People and Skills) 2.9 Services will remain responsible for ensuring that they have the appropriate authority, to deliver activity, including where appropriate relevant service committees. Reporting and Performance Management 2.10 While further information is awaited from the UK Government on the detailed reporting and evaluation requirements, it will be based on the following: • Quarterly high-level reporting on spend to date against the investment priorities and a RAG rating of progress. • Six monthly reporting on a more detailed basis supporting the qualitative updates on a quarterly basis • Annually this should also include details of any evaluation activities 2.11 It is proposed to provide an annual Progress update to the Committee on the delivery of the Shared Prosperity Fund. Key Dates 2.12 The following table summarises the key dates and milestones. DATE ACTIVITY 13th April 2022 Fund Launch April-June 2022 Engagement sessions and development of local investment plans. 19th July 2022 Additional Information published including guidance on outputs/outcomes, reporting and performance management, monitoring and evaluation, assurance and risk, branding and publicity, subsidy control, procurement and equalities. 29th August 2022 Endorsement of NLC & GCR Investment Plans by NLC Committee 30th August 2022 GCR Cabinet Meeting to consider investment plan 1st September 2022 Submission of GCR investment plan to the UK Government 5th December 2022 Approval of GCR Investment Plan 30th December 2022 Payment of first instalment of UKSPF to GCR 7th March 2023 Meeting with UK Government to discuss reprofiling and reporting requirements
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Late March 2023 GCR pass-down agreement to be considered and approved, followed by first payment to local authorities April/May 2023 UK Government consideration/approval of changes requested June 2023 Year 2 payment to be made 1st April 2024 Third year advance payment to be made to lead local authorities 31st March 2025 Three-year UKSPF funding period ends 3. Measures of success 3.1 To maximise North Lanarkshire’s allocation of UKSPF funding totalling £13,817,047 by 31 March 2025 to achieve outputs and outcomes that positively deliver against the priorities and ambitions of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and related Programmes of Work. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 The UKSPF prospectus can be viewed at: UK Shared Prosperity Fund: prospectus - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 4.2 The UKSPF Interventions List for Scotland can be viewed at: Interventions list for Scotland - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 4.3 A link to the GCR Investment Plan summary can be viewed at: UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan (glasgowcityregion.co.uk) Pamela Humphries Chief Officer (Place)
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? An EQiA has been drafted and initial comments received from the UKSPF Internal Working Group. This is due to be updated and presented to the Project Board for consideration and approval. As a result of initial discussion three areas of activity have been identified to pilot a gender budgeting approach, supported by the Scottish Women’s Budgeting Group. An introductory training session has taken place and more detailed workshop sessions are to be scheduled during March and April 2023 to take this forward. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your- community/equalities/equality-and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? North Lanarkshire has received an allocation of £13,871,047 of which £11,475,646 is core UKSPF funding and £2,395,402 is ringfenced for Multiply activity to support adult numeracy activities for individuals aged 19+. The Council has the ability to use 4% of its allocation by default to undertake necessary UKSPF administration including project assessment, contracting, monitoring and evaluation and ongoing stakeholder engagement. Where the 4% is not fully required, this can be used to fund interventions. Where more than 4% is required, a case by exception can be made to the UK Government. Each lead local authority (i.e. GCC) will be paid annually in advance. For 2022/23, the allocation was paid on 30 December 2022 following GCR signing a MOU and Grant Determination Letter with the UK Government. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, payment should be at the start of the financial year. As noted in paragraph 2.2 of this report, the delays in the UKSPF Investment Plan being approved mean that there is a need to reprofile underspend from 2022/23 into 2023/24. There is a financial risk to NLC that the credible plan to justify the reprofiling is not accepted by the UK Government, but this is considered to be minimal. Work is on-going to carry out the reprofiling exercise to feed into discussions with GCR and UK Government during March 2023.
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5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? A Manager has been appointed to oversee the development, management, monitoring and delivery of the UKSPF and other external funding programmes. In addition, there are existing staff across the council who are currently involved in the delivery, monitoring and compliance of existing EU funded and Community Renewal Fund activities. It is anticipated these staff will support the monitoring and compliance of the UKSPF as EU/CRF activities decrease and UKSPF activities come on-stream and increase in scale, these will be funded from the UKSPF administration budget. A number of interventions notably through Multiply interventions have required additional staffing resources to manage and deliver project activity. These posts have been approved and recruitment has taken place. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? GCC as lead local authority will receive a grant determination letter and Memorandum of Understanding setting out UKSPF requirements and obligations. A Pass-down Agreement and associated Assurance Framework will be developed and approved through the GCR Finance Strategy Group (FSG) and will form the basis of the relationship between GCR and the 8 member authorities with regards to UKSPF. These documents are currently in draft form and discussions with Legal and Democratic Solutions are on-going. There are wider legal impacts including subsidy control which are being considered in relation to interventions and projects to be delivered. Subsidy control will be assessed on a project-by-project basis. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e-mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk
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Yes ☐ No ☒ A number of the interventions to be delivered will require the collection of personal data to determine eligibility for the funding. This information will require to be processed by the council or by appointed delivery agents. In the case of Multiply interventions, there will also be a requirement to share data with the UK Government to allow for intended longitudinal monitoring. Initial discussions have taken place with Legal and Democratic Solutions to determine how best to develop and process a DPIA, but further detail is required from the UK Government on the reporting requirements in order to complete this exercise. 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? There are interventions within the UKSPF which relate to both connectivity and digital skills, giving opportunities for funding of community digital infrastructure and increasing digital skills (people and business) in line with the emerging North Lanarkshire digital skills plan, and links to the work of the connectivity services framework. In addition, case management, monitoring and reporting systems may require to be reviewed or developed. Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? There are opportunities for interventions to be supported through the UKSPF in this area under both Communities and Place and Supporting Local Businesses. Contribution to achieving net zero is a key requirement of the UK Government and has been built into the NL UKSPF Investment plan in several interventions such as the development of Active Travel projects and support for the creation of green jobs. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
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Communication and engagement are a critical element of the UKSPF. Local authorities are required to engage with local partners, stakeholders, national agencies Scottish Government, UK Government, MSPs and MPs. UK Government and Levelling Up publicity and branding requirements must be followed for all UK Government funded projects, including UKSPF. The requirements relate to all communications materials and public facing documents relating to funded activity – including print and publications, through to digital and electronic materials. Guidance has been produced by the UK Government in this respect and shared with all project lead officers and communications staff. Monitoring will be carried out to ensure these requirements are being met. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The GCR UKSPF Investment Plan includes detail of risks and issues at the regional level. Mitigation measures will be set out in the UKSPF Pass-down Agreement and Assurance Framework between GCR and its member authorities. The UKSPF Project Board has considered key risks in the delivery and management of the NL UKSPF Investment Plan. A full risk matrix and mitigating actions will be considered at its next meeting and will be reviewed at each meeting thereafter. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in- Service or ex-Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services
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Appendix 1: North Lanarkshire Investment Plan Activities Table 1: Communities and Place - £3,121,427 Intervention Summary of Proposed Activity Total UKSPF Allocation S2 Strathclyde Park Green Growth Accelerator match funding to support 'net zero' redevelopment of the watersports centre £400,000 S5 Funding to support cycle facilities at Bellshill Gateway and a Challenge fund to enhance sports, arts, cultural, heritage and creative activities, projects and facilities £642,500 S6 Funding to support the Ravenscraig Active Travel project and a Challenge fund to support Active Travel projects £550,000 S7 Support for local tourism marketing to increase visitors and support employment in the sector £120,000 S8 Support for volunteering initiatives to help expand volunteering opportunities across North Lanarkshire £220,000 S9 Support for community empowerment and capacity building and delivery of the 9 Local Outcome Improvement Plans £750,000 S10 Support to enhance advice and assistance for those facing fuel poverty £150,000 S11 Support for feasibility studies for active travel or other activities that could be funded under the Communities and Place interventions £75,000 S12 Challenge fund to support community organisations improve their digital connectivity £213,927 TOTAL £3,121,427 Table 2: Supporting Local Business - £2,505,362 Intervention Summary of Proposed Activity Total UKSPF Allocation S14 Challenge Fund to support the development of tourism facilities £150,000 S15 Grant funding and support for businesses to help increase start-ups, growth, investment and employment opportunities, including support to introduce new digital technology and advanced manufacturing technology £1,300,000 S19 Targeted support to help increase business start-ups and encourage entrepreneurs in excluded/under-represented groups £295,362 S20 Continuation of expert help framework to support SME business growth and bespoke support for businesses to transition to Net Zero and/or create green jobs £550,000 S22 Funding to help support growth and capacity building of social enterprises across North Lanarkshire £210,000 TOTAL £2,505,362
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Table 3: People and Skills - £5,389,830 Intervention Summary of Proposed Activity Total UKSPF Allocation S31 and S35 Employability support, programmes and funding to support those furthest from the labour market £3,439,830 S36 and S38 Support to develop skills academies to support North Lanarkshire residents seeking employment – focus will be on digital skills, construction and health and social care £1,050,000 S29 Support to expand support programmes to help vulnerable young people achieve positive post-school destinations £900,000 TOTAL £5,389,830 Table 4: Multiply - £2,299,585 Intervention Summary of Proposed Activity Total UKSPF Allocation S42 Integrated maths in the community programme to provide bespoke and tailored numeracy learning £1,920,327 S49 Delivery of training to improve financial literacy for people with debt problems £379,258 Total £2,299,585