Denbighshire Council finalises shortlist for Shared Prosperity Funding
The Council have finalised their shortlist of applications for funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
The UKSPF is part of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda, providing funding for local investment across the UK until March 2025. £25.6 million worth of funds have been made available for projects across Denbighshire.
Applications for the funding were presented to the Cabinet on 25th April 2023 for consideration to advance to the next stage of the application process, 29 projects successfully making it through to the next phase (a mix of Denbighshire only and regional projects).
The Denbighshire-based projects which have passed the stage 1 appraisal process have now been invited to proceed and submit a stage 2 application. The multi local authority projects that have made Denbighshire County Council’s shortlist cannot yet proceed with stage 2 until a decision has been made by all the relevant local authorities across North Wales.
The Council received 110 applications from community, business and enterprise projects across the county, requesting nearly four times the amount that has been allocated to Denbighshire from the UKSPF. Unfortunately, this meant that a majority of the projects could not be supported, which will be disappointing news for many applicants. However, support will be made available from the Council to help unsuccessful applicants to explore other funding avenues for their projects where possible.
Jason McLellan, Leader of the Council, said: “We are delighted to be taking forward 29 applications for funding at this stage. We received a high volume of applications whose collective value far exceeded the budget allocation for Denbighshire County Council many times over. That is not to say that these projects were of poor quality or not valued, more that we were bound by restrictions of the funding available, our investment plan targets and the timescales restrictions of the UK Share Prosperity Fund programme. Should unsuccessful applicants require further assistance in sourcing alternative funding for their projects, our team is on hand to provide them with support.”
For further information about the Council’s application process for UK Shared Prosperity Funding, visit our website.