Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will be able to apply to use funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to provide business support that meets the needs of co-operatives and social enterprises.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK in places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people who face labour market barriers.

The November 2020 Spending Review set out the main strategic elements of the UKSPF in the Heads of Terms. The Government will develop a UK-wide framework for investment in places receiving funding and prioritising:

• investment in people and skills tailored to local needs, such as work-based training, supplementing and tailoring national programmes (e.g. the Adult Education Budget); and other local support (e.g. for early years).
• investment in communities & place including cultural and sporting facilities, civic, green and rural infrastructure, community-owned assets, neighbourhood and housing improvements, town centre and transport improvements and digital connectivity.
• investment for local business including to support innovation, green and tech adoption, tailored to local needs.

The Government will publish the UK-wide investment framework later this year and confirm the funding profile at the next Spending Review.