UK Shared Prosperity Fund

In an Adjournment debate in the House of Commons, Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, opened by highlighting the upcoming Budget and the need to address the funding cliff edge for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). She praised the positive impact of the UKSPF in her constituency, citing examples of how it was used to support local community groups, businesses, and charities, empowering local communities and delivering economic and social benefits. Edwards acknowledged the challenges with the UKSPF, such as short timescales, single-year funding, and central government restrictions. She urged the Minister to work with the Chancellor to include an additional year of flexible revenue funding for the UKSPF in the upcoming Budget, to avoid the immediate cliff edge and allow time to consider the new government's approach to local growth funds. Responding on behalf of the government, Alex Norris, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, commended Edwards' speech and the strong case she made. He recognized the valuable lessons that can be learned from the Medway example and expressed his eagerness to engage further with Edwards on the matter. Norris acknowledged the frustration around the uncertainty of future funding, as it is a matter for the Chancellor and the upcoming Budget. However, he addressed several of the points raised by Edwards, including the need for longer-term funding cycles, a lighter-touch approach to monitoring, and a greater emphasis on local decision-making. The debate also saw interventions from other Labour MPs, such as Jayne Kirkham, who highlighted the importance of the UKSPF for areas that lost EU funding due to Brexit, and Jonathan Davies, who urged the Minister to lobby the Treasury for more support for local authorities. The Minister responded positively to these interventions, acknowledging the challenges faced by local government and the need to reset the relationship between central and local government to drive better outcomes. Overall, the debate highlighted the significant impact of the UKSPF and the desire for a more flexible, longer-term, and locally-driven approach to future local growth funding, as the government seeks to boost economic growth across the UK.