7 - Shared Prosperity Fund Update- AM reviewed1
Renfrewshire Council · 5 November 2024
Back to Economy and Regeneration Policy Board — 5 November 2024 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Economy and Regeneration Board On: 5th November 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Shared Prosperity Fund Update ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report builds on previous overviews to Board on the progress and plans for the Shared Prosperity Fund programme in Renfrewshire and now updates Board on the progress to end September 2024 as reported to Glasgow City Region as managers of the region-wide approach. 1.2 UK SPF is currently funded until end March 2025 and an announcement is anticipated in the Autumn Statement on 30th October 2024 on the future of the funds. Section 7 of the report provides comment on any further extension or conclusion of the programme. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: a) Note the content of the report and the progress of UK SPF funding to date across Renfrewshire. b) Note the considerations around the future direction of the programme which should be clearer after the UKG Autumn Statement scheduled for 30th October. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) was the UK Government response to the decision by the UK to leave the European Union. Previously, as part of the EU, parts of the UK (including Renfrewshire) were eligible for economic development funding as part of continent-wide support programmes.
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3.2 SPF provides £2.6 billion of funding across the UK 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. 3.3 There are three core SPF investment priorities: • Communities and Place; • Supporting Local Business; • People and Skills. 3.4 In addition, the “Multiply” programme has a specific budget to support numeracy skills across all areas. This is the only Portfolio with a set budget and separate accountability, with monitoring through the UK Government’s Department of Education. 3.5 Renfrewshire Council were awarded £6,290,987 for the first 3 year programme from 2022-25. The programme was phased to increase financially over the 3 years with (approximately) 12% of the budget in year 1, 24% in year 2 and 64% in year 3. It was anticipated that the year 3 budgets would continue in future years. 3.6 An announcement on the future of the fund is expected in the Autumn Statement on 30th October. 3.7 UKSPF guidance states that any budget underspend by programme conclusion (31 March 2025) must be returned to Treasury. This was confirmed by UKG in September 2025: “Funding paid to third parties, or retained by lead local authorities to meet costs associated with activities that take place after the 31 March 2025 is not eligible for UKSPF or Multiply. Any UKSPF or Multiply underspends at the end of 2024/25 must be repaid to MHCLG. Regardless of the outcome of the Budget on 30 October, there will be no mechanism to carry forward any UKSPF underspends into future years.” ___________________________________________________________________ 4. Renfrewshire Performance in UK SPF to date – Core Programme 4.1 The three core SPF investment priorities are performing well and no underspend is anticipated at this stage. Communities and Place 4.2 The SPF Communities and Place programme commenced in April 2023 and has provided the opportunity to fund a wider range of projects through the Council’s Regeneration and Place team. Funding supports Renfrewshire’s local communities through investment in activities that enhance access to amenities and improvements to the built and natural environment to make Renfrewshire a place that people want to live, work, play and learn in. SPF has also provided a useful opportunity to support feasibility work around future activity.
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4.3 The 4 key interventions for UK SPF in Renfrewshire are: • Place based investments regeneration and town centre improvements, which could include better accessibility for disabled people, including capital spend and running costs. 7 projects improving local facilities and amenities have been funded to- date (3 capital and 4 revenue funded) • Support and improvement of community assets and infrastructure projects. This could include support for decarbonisation of facilities, energy efficiency audits, and installation of energy efficiency and renewable measures in community buildings (including capital spend and running costs). 16 community led projects have received grants (10 capital and 6 revenue) with 5 neighbourhood improvements being completed • Design and management of the built and landscaped environment. 6 projects which includes a range of surveys and restoration work have been funded and are being undertaken (2 capital and 4 revenue) • Funding to support relevant feasibility studies. To date 7 feasibility studies have been supported and being carried out with an additional 3 scheduled to start 4.4 No underspends are envisaged for this theme. Supporting Local Business 4.5 The SPF supporting local business funding commenced in April 2023 when ERDF funding ceased. It supports the Council’s overall business development approach and co-finances both staff and services through Business Gateway and business grants. 4.6 The focus for UK SPF in Renfrewshire is: • Support for expert business advice and support programmes at the local and regional level (2023-25); • Support for growing the local social economy (2024-25). 4.7 In 2024-25 £500k was allocated to a business challenge fund and 7 new and additional business support programmes were funded to support local businesses in key areas such as Net Zero, Innovation in Manufacturing, AI and exporting. 4.8 The Social Economy Officer has supported 39 local enterprises this year with four, to date, having received grants and another 12 involved in a programme of wider support to build capacity and innovation.
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4.9 Outputs and outcomes for this theme are good with 605 local businesses receiving advice and support and 439 new businesses started up and trading to date. No underspends have been declared to date. People and Skills 4.10 The SPF people and skills funding commenced in April 2023 and is a two year programme. It effectively replaced (in part) previous ESF resources and has co-funded the Council employability service and the commissioned programmes delivered through the Local Employability Partnership for the last 18 months. Regular reports are brought to Board on employability and the service will again this year support around 2,000 local people. No underspend is expected. 4.11 SPF provides around £2.144M to employability over 2 years (including around £200K from the Multiply Year 1 underspend) and to date (Sept 2024) this has directly supported 541 people into work and 533 people to gain qualifications. 4.12 29 different partners have been commissioned to work together to provide a joined up employability pathway for people looking for work. 4.13 Alongside co-funding a wide range of services UK SPF is specifically used for two priority groups: • Vulnerable young people leaving school: key worker / transition support with specialist training provision (2023-25); • Economically inactive people: Intensive and wrap-around one-to-one support to move people closer towards mainstream provision and employment (2024-25). 4.15 Outcomes across the board are strong for employability and all targets will be met for this theme. ___________________________________________________________________ 5. Renfrewshire Performance - Multiply Programme 5.1 The Renfrewshire Multiply programme has offered three types of numeracy and math support programmes across the area over the last 20 months: • New intensive and flexible courses targeted at people without Level 2 maths in Scotland, leading to an equivalent qualification; • Courses designed to help people use numeracy to manage their money; • Activities, courses or provision developed in partnership with community organisations and other partners aimed at engaging the hardest to reach learners.
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5.2 Provision for Multiply was commissioned by the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership to a wide range of local organisations already dealing with learners (West College Scotland and Community Learning and Development) or involved in community based work. Fourteen different local organisations have been involved in delivery. 5.3 Multiply was completely new to the area in 2022, with provision commencing in 2023, and has performed well overall although it has declared underspends in all years (as have all GCR Multiply programmes). 5.4 To date, in Renfrewshire, 588 people have been supported via 107 different courses / activities running in the community. Programmes of support have included: • Supporting parents to increase confidence and skills to enable them to support children with homework. • Cooking a nutritional healthy meal on a budget. • Supporting people with learning difficulties and autism to understand money. • Helping women from diverse backgrounds improve their numeracy skills and confidence. • A life skills-based budgeting programme for young people who have recently left the care system. • Providing numeracy skills courses to support people into employment including understanding wages and payslips. ___________________________________________________________________ 6. Financial Spend and Claims 6.1 Programmes across the board are performing well and spend is broadly on target across all areas except Multiply (which is underspending across all L/As in Scotland). The claims submitted, and the figures below, reflect grant fund paid out by the Council. 6.2 All four SPF programmes have developed to involve a local grant fund as part of the programme so that services can be delivered by a range of partners. While a lot of the activity is on track, the spend does not reflect the full activities due to slow invoicing by partners. Priority Spend to date by Investment Priority (end Sept 2024) Forecast Spend at end of Financial Year Brief note on expected spend Communities & Place £911,833.27 £1,539,548.10 On track, full spend Local Business £771,033.95 £1,537,976.32 On track, full spend People & Skills £1,318,126.35 £2,144,361.16 On track, full spend Multiply £326,171.00 £532,080.00 Underspend Management and Administration (4% of spend) £133,085.96 £251,639.90 On track, slight underspend relating to final figures for Multiply
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___________________________________________________________________ 7. UK SPF Programme conclusion / extension 7.1 As noted in section 3.7, UKG have confirmed there will be no opportunity to carry-forward any UKSPF budget into the new financial year. The UKG Autumn Budget Statement is scheduled for 30 October 2024. GCR and other stakeholders have made representations to UKG regarding the requirement for a one-year funded extension. UKG civil servants have also indicated this has been their advice to Ministers. 7.2 If a positive announcement is made in the Autumn Budget Statement, it is proposed to provide the next available Economy & Regeneration Policy Board with an updated UKSPF report explaining the detail and implications of any extension. The figures below provide a summary of the Year 3 UKSPF allocation and officers are currently scenario planning for any extension of UKSF funded activity at the same or lower level. Core Multiply Total Renfrewshire £3,309,716 £378,975 £3,688,691 7.3 It is not expected that UKG will require a ‘full’ Investment Plan for any one- year extension to the current programme, more than likely it will be a version of the ‘credible plan’ that was submitted to UKG at the end of Year 1, detailing any significant changes from current activity. 7.4 It is anticipated that if a one year extension is announced, a new UKG (SPF) programme for the following 3 years will be announced during 2025. _________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – the report outlines the current spend against budget. The underspend in multiply has no effect on council as the programme is 100% funded through SPF. 2. HR & Organisational Development –no impact in current programme however the UKG budget announcement for future years could have a significant impact if funding is reduced. 3. Community/Council Planning – UK SPF supports 4 different challenge funds across Renfrewshire. 4. Legal – None. 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – None.
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7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. 8. Health & Safety – None. 9. Procurement – None. 10. Risk – None. 11. Privacy Impact - None. 12. Childrens Rights - None 13. COSLA Policy Position – Not Applicable. 14. Climate Risk – Not Applicable. ___________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers Economy and Regeneration Policy Board, 23rd August 2022, “UK Shared Prosperity Fund Update” Economy and Regeneration Policy Board, 23rd May 2023, “UK Shared Prosperity Fund – Year 1 Report” Economy and Regeneration Board, 7 November 2023, “Shared Prosperity Funding: Business Challenge Fund” ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Ruth Cooper, Economic Development Manager; Email: ruth.cooper@renfrewshire.gov.uk