What does the UK Shared Prosperity Fund mean for charities?

About this event

This was a joint event between NPC and the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA).

At £2.6bn the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is the largest levelling up fund yet to be allocated. It is vital, as unlike previous levelling up funds which focused mostly on hard infrastructure, the UKSPF includes funding for social programmes, which charities run focused on investing in skills and tackling problems like social exclusion. The government has, however, announced that new funding for people and skills will not be available until 2024—though existing EU funded charity projects may receive special dispensation to continue if they are in danger of ending.

At this event we heard from officials at the Department for Levelling Up and Communities, charities and local authorities, about what the UKSPF means for the voluntary sector, how they can get involved and how we can ensure that effective projects do not lose support. Speakers: Till Specht, Head of UKSPF Delivery at the Department for Levelling Up and Communities; Tejesh Mistry, Director of External Affairs at Venture Trust and Heather Waddington, Head of European Structural and Investment Funds, and Future Funding Policy at West Yorkshire Combined Authority.