UK Shared Prosperity Fund

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) provides complementary funding to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), targeted specifically at supporting rural businesses and communities in line with the government’s overall goals of Levelling Up and approach to the UKSPF.

As a district containing substantial rural areas, Ribble Valley has been conditionally allocated £433,680.

Ribble Valley Council submitted its REPF Investment Plan in November 2022. This followed a meeting of the Partnership Group, which has been convened specially in relation to this fund. How REPF will be allocated will be considered in detail when government approval of the Investment Plan is received in 2023.

The key points on the allocation and availability of funding are as follows:

• The funding covers the period from April 2023-March 2025. Whilst official confirmation is not yet available, it is understood that the funding will be apportioned 25% (£108,420) in 2023-24 and 75% (£325,260) in 2024-25.
• The funding is entirely designated as ‘capital’ funding, which means it can only be spent on ‘lasting assets such as buildings or equipment’; although wider UKSPF revenue funding may also be used to complement REPF funding where appropriate.
• The funding must be used to deliver business or community projects (i.e. not domestic) within rural areas, defined as:
  • towns, villages and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside
  • market or ‘hub towns’ with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services