Shared Prosperity Fund - open call information
This is the open call for projects under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for the Swansea county area, part of the South West Wales region.
What does this open call cover?
This open call comprises three components:
Part 1: General wider programme (where this does not duplicate 'anchor' provision and grant schemes/support)
Part 2: Skills interventions targeted around regional and local need
Part 3: Multiply interventions for numeracy interventions targeted around regional and local need
Swansea is operating six 'anchor' projects on key themes of the programme aligned to corporate and partnership strategies. These contain a range of support measures, commissioned activities and third party grant schemes, initial details of which are set out in the table below:
Anchor Project | Activity |
|---|---|
Supporting Communities Anchor | Grant funding for community/ third sector projects A range of grants available to support local groups and organisations to enhance local community spaces, facilities and activities. Grants will support the development of social capital, asset based development and impactful volunteering. |
Transforming County Place Anchor | Historic structures and conservation area feasibility and project fund Village and town centre small scale enhancements Business improvement grants Heritage led economic regeneration activities and trails Meanwhile spaces project (to be commissioned) Strategic feasibility studies Subject to final approval, the Transforming County anchor project will encompass a range of activities to support the regeneration of towns and villages across the county, and complement the funding already available through the Welsh Government Transforming Towns Programme. The following grant schemes will be available: Historic Structures Project and Feasibility Fund: Grants from £5,000 up to £450,000 to facilitate projects or feasibility studies that will bring listed historic structures back into beneficial use. All schemes will need to complete by December 2024, so projects seeking larger grant funding requests will need to be at RIBA stage 3 as a minimum to apply. End use of the building must include commercial floorspace. Purely residential schemes and schemes that create student accommodation will not be eligible. Up to 100% funding will be available for community or local authority led schemes, but match funding would be advantageous. Up to 70% funding will be available for private sector applicants subject to subsidy control rules and evidence of viability gap. The fund is expected to open in April 2023. Transforming County Placemaking Grant: Capital grants of up to £30,000 to support placemaking projects in the wider county, outside the city centre. Small commercial and district centres will be prioritised over other locations. The grant will provide funding for refurbishment of vacant commercial property; shopfront improvements (Business Improvement Grants); green infrastructure and green space projects; small scale active travel schemes and public realm. Occupiers or owners of commercial property, legally constituted trusts with a track record, local authority and town/community councils will be eligible to apply. Up to 70% funding is available subject to subsidy control rules. The fund is expected to open in April 2023. Alongside the grant funding schemes the Transforming County Anchor will also provide: Village and Town Centre Small Scale Improvements: local authority led greening/ green infrastructure and public realm enhancements in towns and villages in the county. Heritage led regeneration activities: activities to drive footfall and support existing businesses in district centres through ongoing support for Shop Local campaigns and local events such as the Morriston Victorian Christmas fayre. Heritage Trails - funding to commission a smartphone-based app that would offer guided heritage trail walks. Meanwhile Spaces: funding to commission delivery of a meanwhile spaces project that would utilise vacant commercial premises in the city centre and district centres to provide space for new businesses to trial high street presence at low cost, and/or introducing pop up activities to add vibrancy and attract footfall to support existing businesses. Crowdfunding: crowdfund platform to enable local community groups to raise funding for projects in local communities across Swansea. Strategic Feasibility Studies: funding to commission feasibility studies that support strategic regeneration priorities across the city and county of Swansea. |
Culture and Tourism Anchor | Development of creative network, sector support, Fusion digital skills, strategy and feasibility |
Rural Anchor | Successor project to the Rural Development Programme providing funding for rural community development, climate change and net zero based activities and rural business activities |
Supporting Business Anchor | Business Grants - Start up grants, growth grants, website development grants, supplier development grants Self-employment and business support events, supplier development workshops, local food producer events Carbon Reduction grants and training for businesses City Centre events linked to Swansea Market to drive footfall Commercial Property Development Fund Third Sector business development support Business Grants: Pre-Start Grant This is a grant with the objective of supporting start-up businesses. The grant is available to pre-start businesses only and can fund costs including but not limited to equipment, training, accreditation and marketing. The maximum grant available is £10,000. The fund offers up to 95% of the project costs for the first £1,000 of expenditure and 50% for expenditure between £1000 - £10,000. All applicants will be required to provide a business plan and a 12 month cash flow forecast. This grant is now open Website Development Grant This is a grant with the objective of adopting a new technology through online/website development. The grant can fund costs relating to the creation of a business website for the first time or enhancement to an existing site. The maximum grant available is £1,500. The grant will require applicants to provide 50% of costs in match funding. All applicants will be required to provide a business plan/summary and a 12 month cash flow forecast. This grant is now open Carbon Reduction Grant This is a grant with the objective of enabling businesses to work towards net zero carbon. The grant can fund costs including renewable energy generation, energy conservation measures and changes to manufacturing processes which result in carbon reduction; applicants must be able to calculate their forecast carbon savings. The maximum grant available is £10,000. The grant will require applicants to provide 50% of costs in match funding. All applicants will be required to provide a business plan/summary and 12 month cash flow forecast. This grant will open early April 2023 Business Growth Grant This is a grant with the objective of supporting business growth through introduction of a new product or service. The grant can fund costs including but not limited to equipment, IT systems and machinery. The maximum grant available is £50,000 based at an upper limit of £5,000 per job created and/or safeguarded. Jobs created and/or safeguarded, the new product or service and the proposed spend must all be directly linked. All applicants will be required to provide a business plan/summary and a 12 month cash flow forecast. This grant will open late March 2023 Supplier Development Grant This is a grant with the objective of providing a new service upon undertaking training to gain a sector recognised accreditation. This will aid businesses wishing to bid for public sector and/or larger scale contracts. The maximum grant available is £1,000. The grant will require applicants to provide 50% of costs in match funding. All applicants will be required to provide a business summary and 12 month cash flow forecast. This grant will open late March 2023 Business Support Activities: Programme of Business Swansea workshops and networking events to support new start-ups and existing businesses covering topics such as employment law, accessing finance, cyber security, accounting, social media marketing. This would include Introduction to self-employment courses for individuals considering starting their own business (linking with employability projects. The Supplier Development Programme would address this need and provide Sell2Wales, e-tender Wales and how to supply Swansea Council workshops to give small businesses the skills to tender for Council and other contracts through Sell2Wales. Support local food businesses and deliver the 'Championing Local Food' programme of work in the Economic Recovery Plan in partnership with the Swansea Food Partnership. The aim of this work is to shorten food supply chains in Swansea, raise awareness of local food and raise the profile of Swansea as a food destination. Supporting Businesses To Achieve Net Zero: Alongside the Business Carbon Reduction Grant, the Business Swansea Anchor would provide Towards Carbon Zero training courses that would include energy/carbon reduction audits for Swansea based SMEs. Generating Footfall Through Events: Funding for a city centre events officer to sit within the City Centre Management Team, and an events budget to deliver events linked to Swansea market to generate footfall for the benefit of existing businesses. Property Development Fund: £1.5m grant funding pot, at a maximum 45% intervention rate, to gap fund the development of commercial floorspace at strategic employment sites across the county. This will complement the Welsh Government Transforming Towns property development funding which is only available in the city centre and town centres. |
Employability anchor - Pathways to Work | Council coordinated multi-agency employability provision to include: NEET Prevention (Cynnydd successor) Post-16 NEET support (Cam Nesa successor) Enhanced Employability support for 16+ Economically Inactive and Long Term Unemployed. Paid Work Placements City Centre Employment Hub Prison leavers support Specialist and niche employability support fund of £2m to be launched as open call. To include provision for ESOL, support people with disabilities and work limiting health conditions. The Employability Anchor programme builds on the success of the UKCRF 'Pathways to Work' project to provide a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to deliver employability and skills provision. Multiple delivery partners will bring specialisms together to provide a more holistic support offer to individuals and create pathways into key work areas through the provision of employability support, skills and training, job search skills, volunteering and placements opportunities. The project focuses on gaps in current provision and local needs to complement existing providers by the creation of employment pathways delivered by key workers through the provision of:
The aim is to progress unemployed or Economically Inactive individuals through a bespoke package of interventions into or closer to the labour market. There will be an open call launched w/c the 27th of March for niche employability provision to join the pathways partnership. For further information please contact the SPF team on spf@swansea.gov.uk or the pathways team on pathwaystowork@swansea.gov.uk. |
If your proposal aligns with the Regional Investment Plan and sits outside of the anchor project activities, you may wish to submit your proposal via this open call.
How much money is available?
- A minimum of £8m funding is available for the general open call
- A minimum of £3m is available for the skills open call
- £5,207,661 is available for the Multiply open call.
UKSPF is predominantly a revenue funding programme however a minimum of 10% capital is available. Applicants are able to request a mix of revenue and capital funding as appropriate to the proposed project activities.
How to apply for all open calls
- Applicants should initially ensure that their proposed activities do not duplicate the Anchor Projects (see above)
- Anchor projects provide tailored access routes for smaller scale activities, so you are advised to check the menu of options above prior to making a bid to the general open call.
- All applicants will need to complete the SPF Application form through the online portal and using the Application Guidance document.
- Complete your application online uploading your Annex A and, in the case of private and voluntary sector applicants, copy of latest accounts. Please ensure that all documentation is sent in advance of the application deadline or the application will not be accepted.
- The SPF Team will assess your application and be in touch
The following documents can be accessed:
- Levelling Up White Paper
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund: prospectus
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund: outputs and outcomes definitions
- South West Wales Regional Investment Plan
- South West Wales Regional Economic Delivery Plan
- Swansea Economic Recovery Action Plan
- South West Wales Employment and Skills Plan
- and a Word version of the application (Word doc, 185 KB) to help prepare before you apply online
- Annex A - Outputs Funding and Planning Workbook (Excel doc, 198 KB) (which covers finance, outputs)
- Application form guidance (including application assessment criteria)
- Procurement rules and thresholds
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is any help available with the application process?
Applicants are advised to email SPF@swansea.gov.uk if help is needed with the application process. The team will be happy to explain any aspects of the process that are unclear, however please be aware that individual detailed mentoring is not available.
Part 1 General wider programme open call
The open call is seeking project proposals that address areas of the Regional Investment Plan that are not being delivered via an anchor project.
All project applications submitted through the open call must directly link to the issues and opportunities identified in the Regional Investment Plan, and must deliver against the UKSPF outputs and outcomes.
Part 2 Skills open call
In line with both the portfolio of UK SPF interventions set out by UK Government and the priorities outlined in the South-West Wales Regional Investment Plan, this framework outlines the proposed approach to delivery of skills-related interventions in Swansea as the basis of a call for proposals from organisations with the capacity and capability to deliver at the required scale, scope, pace and impact.
The core requirement is the delivery of targeted essential, technical and vocational training, retraining and upskilling support to adults aged 19+ in line with local skills needs and regional economic priorities.
The successful provider(s) will need to evidence their experience of and ability to deliver targeted skills, workforce development and in-work progression support for individuals and businesses in Swansea as part of a connected and consistent suite of equivalent support (being procured separately by other local authorities) across the South-West Wales region. They will also need to evidence their ability to deliver learning with a clear focus on achievement of hard outcomes (qualifications, employment and job progression) on exit.
Delivery will need to encompass a mix of short, industry-recognised qualifications, longer, nationally-recognised qualifications (e.g. NVQs) and bespoke non-accredited courses where there is clear evidence of need and demand.
Provision will need to address the needs both of employers and individuals and align clearly with local growth plans aligned to the City Deal, Regional Economic Delivery Plan and Regional Employment and Skills Plan. Proposals will therefore need to demonstrate how they address current and emerging local skills needs and complement broader place-based investment across the City and County of Swansea and the wider South-West Wales region. We therefore envisage delivery including a combination of activities which:
- capitalise on the opportunities and needs of the local area, in particular those which meet the needs of an increasingly green and digital economy;
- provide targeted support to businesses experiencing workforce challenges and/or demonstrating growth potentialof all sizes and across all sectors, with a particular focus on energy, construction, creative industries, science, advanced manufacturing, ICT, automotive, engineering, financial and professional services, food, care and tourism; and
- assist employers and enterprises to adapt to current and future economic and labour market challenges by raising skills levels and increasing the adaptability, mobility and productive capacity of the workforce, in particular through the acquisition of in-demand skills such as:
- Skills in new technology
- Advanced or specialist IT skills
- Renewable energy skills
- Specialist engineering skills
- Smart manufacturing skills
- Coding/Web development skills
- HGV/LGV driving skills
- Retrofit construction skills
- Oral Welsh language skills
- Written Welsh language skills
- Literacy skills
- Digital literacy skills.
In order to ensure maximum impact, proposals will need to be appropriately targeted towards sectors which offer the greatest potential to enable individuals and businesses to increase their skills, adaptability and productive capacity, and similarly towards the acquisition of transferable and vocational skills which offer the greatest potential to benefit individuals, businesses and the wider economy. Bidders are therefore required to outline in their proposals which sectors/skills they intend to target and why, drawing on evidence of need. They will also need to demonstrate additionality i.e. how and why the proposal cannot be delivered through existing funded provision.
Bidders should also outline what aspects of their proposal they consider to be innovative, including how the provision will be flexed to suit the needs and circumstances of both employers and employees, particularly those who have experienced barriers to accessing education and training, and how they will ensure learners are supported to maximise skills utilisation e.g. through job retention, in-work progression and/or career transition.
Part 3 Multiply open call
In line with both the portfolio of UK SPF interventions set out by UK Government and the priorities outlined in the South-West Wales Regional Investment Plan, and building on the successful approach to essential skills delivery trialled in Swansea through the CRF-funded Pathways to Work project and other recent successful models of community and workplace-based essential skills provision, this framework outlines the proposed approach to delivery of the Multiply programme in Swansea as the basis of a call for proposals from organisations with the capacity and capability to deliver at the required scale, scope, pace and impact.
The core requirement is the delivery of flexible numeracy skills support to adults aged 19+ who do not have a Level 2 or higher maths qualification.
The successful provider(s) will need to evidence their experience of and ability to engage with a wide range of community partners to engage hard-to-reach individuals and support them to access and sustain participation in learning. They will also need to evidence their ability to deliver learning with a dual focus on achievement of hard outcomes (qualifications, employment) and soft outcomes (employability, life skills) on exit.
Delivery will need to be undertaken by qualified Essential Skills Practitioners capable of providing flexible training aligned to individual needs, abilities and circumstances. This will necessitate a rolling programme of flexible, face-to-face, digital and/or blended courses at various levels/lengths combined with one-to-one tutoring, delivered in accessible locations across the city and county of Swansea. We therefore envisage delivery of the Multiply programme in Swansea including a combination of:
- Personalised Numeracy Coaching, delivered on a one-to-one basis over a sustained period and highly contextualised to the learner's life/work circumstances and aspirations;
- Intensive Numeracy Courses, development of new intensive and flexible courses delivered in small groups (6-8 maximum) over a defined time period (typically 10-12 weeks) and aligned to formal qualifications; and
- Workplace Numeracy Courses, delivered through a combination of personal numeracy coaching and flexible/structured courses to suit the employer and their workforce needs.
In order to ensure maximum impact, proposals will need to be appropriately targeted towards groups who are particularly affected by low levels of numeracy. Bidders are therefore required to outline in their proposals which target groups they intend to work with and why, drawing on evidence of need. They will also need to demonstrate additionality i.e. how and why the proposal cannot be delivered through existing funded provision.
Bidders should also outline what aspects of their proposal they consider to be innovative, including how the provision will be flexed to suit individual needs and circumstances, particularly for those within hard-to-reach groups, and how they will facilitate high levels of learner engagement, motivation, retention and achievement.
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