Community Renewal Fund
In April 2022 the UK government launched the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The UKSPF is a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment across the UK by March 2025. The fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK, investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
Mansfield District Council has been allocated £2.955m from the fund for a three-year period. The money will be used for community projects, business support, and to promote new skills and employment opportunities. It will also help to deliver the aspirations in the Making Mansfield strategy, which sets out council aims and ambitions between now and 2030.
The Mansfield Community Grant Fund
The Mansfield Community Grant Fund will offer a maximum of £15,000 in grant for community and voluntary groups to apply for projects that will make a difference in their local neighbourhoods. The Community Grant Fund will be managed in collaboration with Mansfield Community Voluntary Service (MCVS). The aim is to make the application process as straight forward as possible and provide support through MCVS to help groups through the process.
Applications for this grant are now open. Further details about the Community Grant Fund and the application form can be found here (opens in new window).
If you need any assistance, email info@mansfieldcvs.org or call 01623 392444. The deadline to apply is 6 February 2023.
Mansfield UKSPF Communities and Place
There will also be an opportunity for direct bidding for projects over £15,000 that must demonstrate that they contribute to the council’s communities and place ambitions.
The plan will see the council deliver some of the projects itself, some via partners and commissioning, and others through grass-roots activity, targeted towards priority areas and themes and carried out in collaboration with community groups and partners. Plans for business support projects and skills related activity will follow in future financial years.
Applications for this grant are now open and you can apply here (opens in new window) directly on the council’s website. The deadline to apply is 6 February 2023.
There is no set maximum amount of funding but the total funding available funds are established for each year of the Investment Plan. Projects must align with one of the themes of ‘Culture and Communities’ and / or ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and specifically respond to some of the challenges identified in the Mansfield UKSPF Investment Plan. A summary of these can be downloaded here (opens in new window).
Projects must be able to commence expenditure before 31 March 2023 but projects that run beyond this period / across the duration of the UKSPF Investment Plan will be welcome.
How will applications be assessed?
Initially, eligibility will be assessed, noting:
- Financial Due Diligence checks will be undertaken as appropriate at the Council’s discretion. These checks will include the applicant’s financial standing, assessing ability to deal with issues such as cost increases and with cash flow issues with grant provided in arrears. If these are not satisfactorily assessed, the project will be deemed ineligible.
- Applicants must be legally constituted and if approved, the organisation will enter into a legally binding funding agreement and therefore will carry the liability for ensuring that the terms and conditions of the funding agreement are met.
- The Council reserves the right to deem a project ineligible if the application is incomplete, has insufficient justification or is not signed.
- Particular attention will be given to the position on insurances, liabilities and subsidy control.
Who will make the decision on which projects are funded?
Projects will be independently scored by Mansfield District Council. Scoring and recommendations for funding then presented to the Mansfield Place Board for review. As accountable body for the funding, the ultimate responsibility sits with Mansfield District Council.
Whilst this is a competitive bidding process, the government encourages a mix of competition and commissioning and therefore depending on what applications come forward, Mansfield District Council and the Place Board may decide to undertake some commissioning in response to the applications received, potentially asking projects to collaborate where there is a clear rationale for doing so.
Specifically, given the council is required to meet the financial parameters and the collective outputs and outcomes of each priority and for the overall programme, the council reserves the right to take a strategic overview of all applications and ensure the Investment Plan as a whole is deliverable.
Any queries should be made in writing to: to Regeneration@Mansfield.gov.uk and be sent no later than a week before the application deadline.
The UKSPF marks the first availability of funding to replace EU funding streams previously available and was approved by Government on 5 December. View more information on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund webpage (opens in new window).