What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund?
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a new three-year domestic fund running from 2022-23.
It replaces European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). These funds have supported a range of job creation, innovation, carbon reduction and skills programmes across Greater Manchester.
Purpose
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s commitment to level up all parts of the UK by delivering on each of the four parts of the Levelling Up agenda (Gov.uk):
- Boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards, especially in those places where they are lagging.
- Spread opportunities and improve public services, especially in those places where they are weakest.
- Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, especially in those places where they have been lost.
- Empower local leaders and communities, especially in those places lacking local agency.
The primary goal of UKSPF is to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK, while recognising the acute challenges town centres and communities have faced during the Covid pandemic.
The UKSPF will need to take account of the wider funding landscape including other levelling up-type funding. UKSPF investments will also need to demonstrate their contribution to net zero, nature recovery and green growth objectives.
Greater Manchester UKSPF funding allocation
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment from 2022/23 to 2024/25. Greater Manchester's funding allocation is shown below:
| Funding Allocation | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core UKSPF | £10,176,043 | £20,352,086 | £53,322,466 | £83,850,595 |
| Multiply | £4,348,860 | £5,017,916 | £5,017,916 | £14,384,692 |
| TOTAL | £14,524,903 | £25,370,002 | £58,340,380 | £98,235,287 |
A full list of UKSPF funding allocations can be found on the UK Government website.
Core UKSPF and Multiply
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund has two elements:
(1) The core UKSPF allocation
This is split between three investment priorities:
- Communities and Place – strengthening our social fabric and fostering a sense of local pride and belonging and building resilient and safe neighbourhoods;
- Local Business – creating jobs and boosting community cohesion, promoting networking and collaboration and increasing private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities; and,
- People and Skills – boosting core skills and supporting adults to progress in life and work, including targeted offers responding to local needs and for adults with no or low-level qualifications, and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
European funding is still in place for many skills, employment and business support projects until mid-2023.
For the first two of the three financial years (April 2022 to March 2024), the Core UKSPF will focus on Communities and Place and Local Business interventions to boost pride in place.
In the third year (April 2024 to March 2025) the fund can also be used to support People and Skills interventions whilst continuing to support Communities and Place and Local Business interventions.
(2) Multiply
Multiply is a new government-funded national programme to help adults aged 19+ who do not already have a Level 2 in Maths/Numeracy (or equivalent) to improve their numeracy skills.
Funding for the Multiply adult numeracy programme will run across all three years, from April 2022 to March 2025.
To find out how the Multiply programme will be implemented in Greater Manchester visit the dedicated Multiply webpage.
Find out more
UKSPF Prospectus (Gov.uk) - published 13/04/22 - last updated 01/08/22
UKSPF Prospectus Additional Information (Gov.uk) - published 19/07/22