Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing presented the report which provided the Committee with an update on the UK Shared and Rural England Prosperity Fund Programmes.

The Council had received £3.7m in funding to allocate over three years.  The funding had to be used by 31 March 2025 with any unspent funding being returned to central Government.

Currently the UKSPF had an over allocation of £21,261 with the Rural Fund being under allocated by £98,000.  It was stated that there were a lot of funds which had yet to be drawn down and Officers were chasing applicants weekly in respect of these applications.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing placed on record his thanks to Officers specifically the Assistant Director of Planning and Growth and the Director of Housing who had taken over the management of the fund.

Weekly supervision of applications was being undertaken and work was being done to see if funds could be transferred across to the Rural Fund so that it will not be under allocated.  Projects were being identified which could be moved into the UKSPF when it was clear what funds would be at risk.  The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing stated these were funds that had been allocated for a project but had not been used fully by the end of the project. It was stated that all funds would be used by the end of the period, and it was not expected that any unallocated funds would be returned to central Government.

All outstanding projects where funds had not been fully drawn down were being closely monitored. If the grant recipient was unable to use all the funds allocated to them then the funds would be reallocated as per the UKSPF Boards decision made on 27 January 2025.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing stated it was possible that there would be £1.2m in funds for 2025/26, however the process would need to be streamlined and tightened up to make the allocation of funds more efficient.

Concern was expressed by some Members that the money would not be spent before the cut off deadline of 31 March 2025 due to the amount still outstanding and assurances were sought money would not be returned to central Government.

The Assistant Director of Planning and Growth stated the figures contained within the report were as at the end of January 2025.  Regular updates were being undertaken with the Finance Team and she indicated that since the report had been written between £300 and £400,000 + had been allocated to projects since the report had been published.  Payment vouchers were being signed off on a daily basis and she gave assurance to the Committee the funds were being committed.

Further concern was expressed about the short notice in respect of other schemes, and it was confirmed that further applications would not be sought.  It was confirmed there were schemes that had been funded by other means by the Council such as through the Climate Change Reserve or General Fund contributions which meet the criteria for funds from the UKSPF.  At the last meeting of the UKSPF Board a list of schemes had been highlighted and the UKSPF Board were happy for the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer to use their delegated powers to allocate any underspends against these projects.  This meant the funds could be freed up from these areas to be used on other projects.

A further comment was made about using the money from different areas and the underspend to which the Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer stated that the underspend would not change, it was how projects were financed that would change.

A question was asked about having a “By-ward” spend in respect of the UKSPF and it was stated that this information was available and was published on the agenda for each of the UKSPF Board meetings although a final spend was to be confirmed.

The Chairman stated that once the funding process had completely closed a further report would be coming before the Committee.

Ø Action

That a report on the UKSPF to come before the Committee once the complete allocation had been finalised.

Further comments were made in respect of funding applications and the required due diligence necessary to which the Assistant Director of Planning and Growth responded.

Members noted the report.