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•To allocate UK Shared Prosperity Funding
(UKSPF) for 25/26 to reopen the Shopfront Improvement Grants, for
both capital and revenue works.
•To allocated funding from both the UKSPF and the Community
Regeneration Partnership (CRP) to secure a planning consultant to
support businesses in submitting planning applications for
shopfront improvements as required.

Reasons for the decision

The Shopfront Improvement Grant Scheme under
UKSPF for 2024/25 was a popular grant scheme and has made a
considerable difference to the look of many shops across Tendring,
improving not only the physical premises themselves but the
appearance and experience for residents and visitors alike.
Lessons learnt from 2024/25 established that businesses struggled
with planning applications and/or submitted a request for funding
which didn’t allow enough time to seek planning
permission.
To address this the scheme will be relaunched and a RfQ process
carried out to secure a planning consultant to support those
applications received and to allow more business owners the chance
to apply for the grant, given the potential/perceived complexity of
the planning process. Having this support in place, paid for per
application by the UKSPF allocation, would make the scheme more
accessible.
The decision to also launch the Shopfront Improvement Grant Scheme
under CRP has already been published (see decision link), with
eligible premises limited to Clacton on Sea, Holland on Sea and
Jaywick Sands under CRP funding criteria. Both these grants will
run along side each other and will be supported by the planning
consultant.

Alternative options considered

Both the UKSPF and CRP are allocations of
funding from MHCLG and must be spent and delivered in full by 31st
March 2026, or else be returned to Central Government; there is no
option to carry forward as this financial year is the end of the
current programme.