Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund on (a) local business in Scotland, (b) social enterprises in Scotland and (c) Stirling and Strathallan constituency.

Under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund ‘Supporting Local Business’ investment priority, which includes support for social enterprises, local authorities in Scotland have already spent £10.9m as of April 2024. This includes close to £400,000 spent in Stirling, and more than £270,000 spent in Perth and Kinross.

Year 3 payments have now been paid to local authorities, and we anticipate further investment under this priority in the third year of the fund.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is committed to evaluating and publishing findings on the impacts of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and Scotland is a key component of this evaluation. The UKSPF evaluation strategy clearly sets out the approach to evaluation.