Purpose

The Business Support Hub was approved as part
of Cheshire Easts Investment Plan and subsequent Skeleton Programme
and has been in operation since March 2023.  The Hub continues to be a vital extension of
service provision within the Business & Growth team. The
proposal is to extend the current contract, so that the Hub does
not cease operation on 31 March 2025, and continues smooth delivery
for 25/26.
 
The Corporate Policy Committee, at its meeting
on 6 February 2025, considered a report on the UK Shared Prosperity
Fund Transition Year 25/26 and resolved:
 
1        Approve the
split of the UKSPF 25/26 allocation as follows: £151,067 for
Fund Management and Administration, £1,771,000 for
Communities and Place Initiatives, £1,302,000 for Supporting
Local Business Initiatives and £566,170 for People and Skills
Interventions.
2.       Approve the use of
£566,170 of the People and Skills allocation for the
continuation of employment support for economically inactive
people, and the use of £500,000 of the Communities and Place
allocation for the continuation of Macclesfield Market
Refurbishment, such allocations to be embedded into the MTFS.
3.       Delegate authority to the
Director of Growth & Enterprise to manage the Cheshire East
UKSPF programme, taking all necessary actions in the interests of
maximising the impacts of the fund aligned to the fund parameters
and local priorities, including but not limited to allocation of
remaining funds to specific interventions, and reallocation of
funds and movement of revenue funds to capital if required
 
It is proposed that an allocation of
£100,000 revenue is sought from the £1,302,000
allocated for Supporting Local Business Initiatives to fund the Hub
for the financial year 25/26.
 

Corporate Policy Committee 6 Feb 2025 UK Shared
Prosperity Fund

Content

To approve the Business Support Hub to
continue as part of UKSPF Transition funding programme for FY 25/26
with an allocation of up to £100K.