The committee considered the report which provided an update on the allocation of an additional year of funding under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for 2025-26.
The committee queried the proposed split of the UKSPF 25/26 funding which proposed to allocate £151,067 for Fund Management and Administration and sought assurances on how this would be spent. It was confirmed that the costs would cover a wide range of administrative roles including the employment of independent appraisals of projects and evaluations, accountants, lawyers and other officers across the corporate team.
The committee noted that no announcement had yet been made regarding the separately allocated Rural England Prosperity Fund and queried what impact this could have on the projects that the council managed. It was confirmed that officers continued to work with MHCLG and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on this matter.
It was acknowledged the difficulties that government parameters caused when allocating and spending funding, particularly for Town and Parish Councils. It was agreed that this should be raised with colleagues in MHCLG where possible.
RESOLVED (unanimously):
That the Corporate Policy Committee
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