Decision

To fund eleven projects with UKSPF allocation of £7,505 as follows:-

Harwich and Dovercourt Cricket Club = £500 and £300

Tendring Netball Club = £1,000

Tendring Technology College = £1,000

Flexfit Yoga CIC = £500

Holland Haven Primary School = £1,000

Clacton County High School = £1,000

Spring Meadow Primary School = £500

Essex Professional Coaching = £1,000

Essex Cricket = £500

Great Bentley Cricket Club = £205

Reasons for the decision

To set out projects which will have funds allocated from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) for approval by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Leisure.   

The UKSPF programme, established in 2022 by Central Government, is part of a wider programme which has allocated funding nationwide to Councils for locally led delivery. Funding has been delivered via Multiply, the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF), and Shared Prosperity Fund Programmes. 

The programme initially draw to a close at the end of 2024/25, however, a transition year was announced by MHCLG for 2025/26.

It was announced in December 2024 that Tendring had been allocated £563,028 (made up of £71,771 capital and £491,257 revenue), via an updated funding formula, to be allocated to projects across three themes in 2025/26. Some of this funding has already been allocated by Cabinet (report in the link within this decision).

The themes are unchanged from the previous programme, and supported by sub-themes as follows:

•           Communities and Place 

•           Supporting Local Business 

•           People and Skills 

On 21 February 2025 Cabinet approved acceptance of the UKSPF 2025/26 and delegated the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism to approve the award of grants to organisations under the UKSPF.

On 10 July 2025, the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism approved the scoring criteria to be used to assess these open call applications:  Acceptance of the UKSPF 2025/26 Scoring Criteria

A panel of officers drawn from across the Council applied the scoring criteria to assess the funding bids. The scores have been combined to identify those bids with the highest score.  

The Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism in the decision above is approving allocation of funding to the highest scoring bids as recommended by the panel. 

Applications of the UKSPF Sports & Leisure Widening Participation Grant are subject to a required pass mark & scoring panel before being awarded allocated funds of £500 & up to £1000 in exceptional circumstances.

Successful submissions are notified of the decision and agree to adhere to legal requirements of the fund and all monitoring responsibilities.

Alternative options considered

Not to launch an open call funding scheme and reducing opportunities for local businesses and community groups to thrive.

To give the funding to alternative projects, however we followed the scoring criteria rigorously. The proposed applications have been selected by the scoring panel by following approved criteria.