About the UK Shared Prosperity Fund

By investing in domestic priorities and targeting funding where it is needed most: building pride in place, supporting high quality skills training, supporting pay, employment and productivity growth and increasing life chances.

It will enable truly local decision making and better target the priorities of places within the UK, leading to visible and tangible improvements to the places where people work and live, alongside investment in human capital, giving communities up and down the UK more reasons to be proud of their area.

Places will be empowered to identify and build on their own strengths and needs at a local level, focused on pride in place and increasing life chances. Local places will be able to use the Fund to complement funding such as the Levelling Up Fund, and mainstream employment and skills provision to maximise impact and simplify delivery.

The aims of the Fund

The UKSPF will support the UK government's wider commitment to level up all parts of the UK by delivering on each of the levelling up objectives:

• Boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector, especially in those places where they are lagging.
• Spread opportunities and improve public services, especially in those places where they are weakest.
• Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, especially in those places where they have been lost.
• Empower local leaders and communities, especially in those places lacking local agency.

About UKSPF in County Durham

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK. Under UKSPF the County has a grant allocation of £30,830,613 and an additional £2,803,077 to fund Multiply - a new adult numeracy programme (see Learn number skills with "Multiply" for information). Funding is available across financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25. 

The County Durham UKSPF Investment Plan sets out key challenges and opportunities for the county under the Fund's three investment themes:

• Communities and Place 
• Supporting Local Businesses 
• People and Skills 

An overview of UKSPF Investment Plan for County Durham can be seen in  UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in County Durham (PDF, 148.8kb) .

Next steps

As we move towards delivery, a forward plan is being developed which will set out delivery approaches and business process for UKSPF. Following agreement by the County Durham Economic Partnership Plus Board, the Forward Plan will be published, which will include timescales for issuing of open calls.

Information on current project calls can be found at Call for UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects.