This week, both a council scrutiny committee and Cabinet will discuss BCBC’s finalised plans for a grant scheme as part of the UK Government’s “Shared Prosperity Fund” (pdf).
The “Shared Prosperity Fund” (SPF) replaces similar schemes that were funded by the European Union before Brexit aimed at improving local economic development.
Bridgend has been allocated £23.1million for three financial years – likely to be significantly less than previous EU funding. This money comes from the £278.5million made available to the ten local authorities that make up the Cardiff City Region.
The necessary staff/administrators are now in place to deliver programmes as part of the SPF.
There are also several grant schemes, which have now been finalised:
- Valleys Placemaking Property Improvement Grant – Used to either enhance existing commercial buildings or bring empty commercial buildings back into use, targeted at Maesteg town centre and commercial centres in the Ogmore and Garw valleys. Grants of between £30,000-50,000 will be available.
- Empty Property Survey Grant – Grants of up to £3,000 to fund surveys undertaken with a view of bringing empty commercial properties back into use. Again, this will be restricted to the three valleys.
- Community Feasibility Fund – Grants of up to £33,516 to cover the cost of feasibility studies for “community-led ideas” focusing on health, climate change and the economy. The grants will be available county-wide.
- Business Development Grant – Another county-wide scheme which will make grants of between £5,000-25,000 available to support small and medium businesses to decarbonise, diversify or expand.
- Business Feasibility Grant – Identical to the development grant except it covers the cost of developing detailed business plans linked to decarbonisation, diversification or growth.
- Tourism Events Support – Grants of between £2,500-10,000 to support local events – county-wide – that have the potential to attract large numbers of visitors, have a cultural significance to Bridgend county or have the potential to raise the county’s profile.
A grant panel will be set up to make approval recommendations based on agreed assessment criteria.
However, if the UK Government doesn’t approve rolling over money that couldn’t be spent during 2022-23 into 2023-24 (due to an eight-month delay in the UK Government signing it off), BCBC could potentially lose £3.5million from their allocated fund. A decision is due in July 2023.
