BCP Council consultation on funding priorities: Letter from Ian Girling to businesses in BCP

I am writing to update you regarding BCP Council’s ‘UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)’ and ‘Multiply’.

The UKSPF is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda. It provides £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation. BCP Council, as Lead Authority, has been allocated nearly £4.2m for the ‘main’ UKSPF, and a further £1.7m for the Multiply programme (numeracy skills). In total, this is £5.9m for the 3 financial years from April 2022 to March 2025.

To access the funding, BCP Council are developing Investment Plans (IP) for both UKSPF and Multiply in conjunction with local stakeholders. The Investment Plan details which areas that BCP Council seeks to address based on local evidence and needs. Council’s need to prioritise as there is insufficient funding to address all possible Interventions.

I have been drafted onto the Local Partnership Group to help shape the IP and to ensure that the business voice is heard. To date, we have held one LPG and have discussed the proposed broad Interventions that BCP Council would like to take forward.  The chosen UKSPF interventions, within the 3 Investment priorities will deliver:

Communities and Place

1. Creation/improvements local green spaces (E3)
2. Funding for impactful volunteering and/or social action projects (E9)
3. Capacity building and infrastructure for local civil society & community groups (E11)
4. Community engagement schemes (E12)
5. Community measures to reduce cost of living (E13)
6. Feasibility Studies (E14)

Local business

1. Business start-up and growth (E23)
2. Increasing exporting (E28)
3. Increasing R&D and Innovation (E20)
4. Town and District Centres (E16)
5. Low Carbon (E29)
6. Development and promotion of the visitor economy (E17)
7. Feasibility Studies (E31)

People and skills

1. Employment support for economically inactive (E33)
2. Courses including basic skills (digital, English and ESOL) and life skills (E34)
3. Increasing digital inclusion (E36)
4. Tailored support for people in employment to address barriers to education and training (E37)
5. Green Skills (E39)

We support the prioritised interventions that BCP are proposing and will keep you updated as this progresses. In the interim, if you have any significant views on this then please let me know by the 10th June and I will feed these back to BCP Council. Please respond with any comments to sarah.milton@dorsetchamber.co.uk

With best wishes
Ian Girling