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Council announces plans to support local people and businesses using £2.6 million government funding

Date Posted: 12:35 PM on Tue, 2 August 2022

Gedling Borough Council has formally submitted plans to improve the borough using an allocation of £2.6 million through the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund over the next three years.

In April 2022 the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities launched a funding programme of £2.6 billion, called the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to support local investment.  This funding is allocated through a funding formula rather than competitive bid and it replaces the European Union Regional Development Fund.

The council’s bid includes a detailed investment plan that shows how it will spend the money in order to meet the government’s funding criteria and what the benefits to the local community will be. The fund identifies three local priorities; communities and place, support for local businesses and people and skills. The council will be looking at a range of ideas to spend the money including improving town centres, green spaces, encourage visitors and improve community engagement programmes.

As part of the submission, the council consulted with local community groups, businesses and partners to establish what they think the money should be used for. The consultation results were included in the plan and helped shaped some of the key priorities for the fund. The bid has also been formally backed by Nottinghamshire County Council.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke MBE said:

“We have submitted an investment plan that will help show how we will spend this much needed money in key areas of the borough. We will use the money to ensure projects that were previously funded by EU money will be able to continue. We will also use the money to support local communities and neighbourhoods with projects, help create safer places for people to enjoy and help our most vulnerable residents to reduce the cost of living.”