UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in Sunderland

Introduction to UKSPF

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a key pillar of the UK Government's Plan for Change. UKSPF aims to support all residents, communities and businesses with a specific focus to help kickstart economic growth and promote opportunities for all.

Sunderland's UKSPF investment plan was approved by Government in December 2022. During the initial three year period of UKSPF (2022/23 - 2024/25) the Council published 4 open calls for projects and supported 27 local projects. This resulted in an investment of £14.34m UKSPF grant in a wide range of projects spanning the three investment priorities, with 12 projects supported under Communities and Place, 12 projects under the Supporting Local Business priority, and 3 People and Skills projects. Further detail on these projects is summarised in the 2022/23 - 2024/25 section below.

The Government's Autumn Budget 2024 announced a transition year of UKSPF funding for 2025/26 to support local investment across three key Investment Priorities:

1.     Communities and Place: Investing in local communities and enhancing pride in place.

2.     Supporting Local Business: Boosting economic growth and supporting businesses.

3.     People and Skills: Improving life chances through skill development and support.

The UKSPF transition year enabled project delivery to continue through to March 2026, building on the achievements and impacts to date. The transition year was subsequently extended to September 2026, when the UKSPF programme will close. For this period, Sunderland was allocated £5.9m grant to distribute as follows across the three Investment Priorities.

Under Investment Priority 1, £1.55m of UKSPF grant was allocated to support a number of projects that continue to: improve access to and participation in creative and cultural opportunities; strengthen voluntary and community sector facilities, infrastructure and services, including responding to the cost-of-living crisis; support the Links for Life social prescribing programme and community digital health hubs across the city; and support a youth partnership project to deliver a wide range of outreach activities.

Under Investment Priority 2, £2.01m of UKSPF grant was allocated to support local businesses and entrepreneurs via a range of support programmes, with the objective of boosting local enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation, and transitioning towards a net-zero low carbon economy.

Under Investment Priority 3, £2.13m of UKSPF grant was invested in projects that address key employer and local labour market skills needs, enabling local people to progress into new opportunities, and gain new skills and qualifications that enhance career progression.

UKSPF Programme Investment (2022/23 - 2024/25)

Communities and Place: In total, £5.27m was invested in Communities and Place projects. The 12 projects supported included activities that: improved access to and participation in creative and cultural opportunities; strengthened voluntary and community sector facilities, infrastructure and services, including responding to the cost-of-living crisis; invested in new or improved creative business spaces; created a network of community digital health hubs across the city; supported a youth partnership project to deliver outreach activities in neighbourhoods.

Supporting Local Business: In total, £5.24m was invested in Supporting Local Business projects. The 12 projects supported included 3 joint regional projects developed in collaboration with other North East local authorities. In addition, the programme also supported the Business Renewable Energy Efficiency Scheme (BREEZ), the Expo Sunderland programme and several business support schemes offering financial and non-financial support.

People & Skills: In total, £3.82m revenue grant was invested in People and Skills projects. These included support for the Wise Group's Relational Mentoring project, a local delivery partnership providing support for economically inactive residents in the city, and the University of Sunderland's Skills and Inclusion Programme, which aimed to address key employer and workforce development priorities, enabling local people to progress into new opportunities and gain new skills and qualifications to enhance career progression.

Further information on the external evaluation of the Sunderland UKSPF programme can be found under the UKSPF Evaluation, Case Studies and Resources tab below.

Contact details

Please contact us at [email protected] for any general enquiries on UKSPF or if you have any questions or require further information.