Prosperity Funds
About the Prosperity Funds
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) are part of the government’s Levelling Up agenda. The primary goal of the funds is to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK through the support of high-quality skills training, improving pay, supporting employment and productivity growth.
West Oxfordshire District Council has been allocated £1,716,216 of funding, with set allocations for each of the three years as set out below.
|
|
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
UKSPF |
£70,467 |
£140,935 |
£788,598 |
|
REPF |
- |
£180,000 |
£536,216 |
While the funds are to be used to address local needs and issues, the Government published clearly defined criteria that set the context. The funds can be used for three broad themes (known as ‘Investment Priorities’):
- Communities & Place
- Supporting Local Business
- People & Skills (available in 2024/25 only)
The Council submitted a Local Investment Plan for both funds setting out our local priorities. These priorities are defined by selecting from a list of ‘Interventions’ or project themes and setting out the outputs to be delivered under each.
Our Investment Plan was approved in January 2023 and is summarised here:
WODC Investment Plan Summary 2023 - pdf - 99 Kb
Rural Services Study
The Council commissioned the Plunkett Foundation to look at the state of rural services in the district and make recommendations on how we can best address any issues. The report has been completed and we are currently using the findings to design the Communities and Place element of our UKSPF programme. The report is available to download below.
Funding will be distributed via grant schemes to organisations and community groups. We will publish details for these schemes on this web page when they are launched.
For further information on UKSPF, please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus