Economic development

What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and how will it affect the East Riding?

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda. The fund will invest in domestic priorities and target funding where it is needed most: building pride in place, supporting high quality skills training, supporting pay, employment and productivity growth and increasing life chances.

The UKSPF replaces the support that local authorities previously accessed through the European Structural and Investment Funds prior to the UK’s exit from the European Union.

How much has the East Riding been allocated from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund?

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council, as the lead local authority, has received an allocation of £10.4 million covering the period 2022-2025. We have been engaging with a wide range of local stakeholders from the private, public, community and voluntary sectors to seek input on how the funding should be spent and how they can support delivery over the next three years. The £10.4 million of UKSPF is provisionally allocated across the 3 year period as follows:

• £1,264,517 for 2022-2023
• £2,529,034 for 2023-2024
• £6,626,068 for 2024-2025.

Where can I find out more information about the UKSPF? 

The full UKSPF prospectus can be found on the government’s website:

GOV.UK - UKSPF Prospectus (external website)

What is the Multiply Fund?

Multiply is the first priority of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It aims to improve adult (those aged 19+) numeracy skills and, therefore, supports the Levelling Up mission to ensure that, by 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK.

How much Multiply funding has the East Riding been allocated? 

The East Riding has provisionally been allocated a maximum £1,523,637.49 of Multiply funding over the next three academic years as follows:

• £460,634.59 for 2022-2023
• £531,501.45 for 2023-2024 
• £531,501.45 for 2024-2025. 

The Multiply prospectus can be found on the government’s website: 

GOV.UK - Multiply: funding available to improve adult numeracy skills (external website)

How will the council access the UKSPF and Multiply funding allocations?

The UKPSF will predominantly provide revenue funding, with some allowance for a small amount of capital expenditure. The Multiply Programme will provide revenue funding only.

To draw down the UKSPF and Multiply funding allocations, the council had to submit investment plans setting out how it intends to use and deliver the funding for approval by the government.

Between May and August 2022, these plans were developed in conjunction with local stakeholders through a combination of webinars, focus meetings and workshops. A consultative local partnership group was also established to provide local insight and expertise, identify and address need and opportunity, and ensure that the right solutions were selected for the East Riding. In addition, local MPs were included in this engagement process. Both plans were submitted by their respective deadlines of 1 August (UKSPF) and 30 June 2022 (Multiply).

The investment plan for Multiply was approved in August 2022. Approval of the UKSPF investment plan is still pending.

How can I find out more about the delivery of the funds in the East Riding? 

On Thursday, 26 May 2022, the regeneration and funding team hosted an information webinar on the funds for groups and organisations who are active in the East Riding. The webinar provided an overview of the funds and explained how groups and organisations could get involved in shaping the investment plans by sharing relevant project ideas with the team. A recording of the webinar can be accessed here:

YouTube - Webinar on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Multiply in the East Riding (external website)

What is the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF)? 

The REPF supports the aims of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper and Future Farming Programme. It will fund capital projects for small businesses and community infrastructure in order to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.

The REPF is integrated into the UKSPF and supports activities that address the particular challenges rural areas face, including lower productivity rates, poorer connectivity and poorer access to key services.

The allocation from REPF for the East Riding is £1.8 million to be spent in 2023-24 and 2024-25. In order to draw down this funding, the council must submit an addendum to its UKSPF investment plan by 30 November 2022. Work is underway to pull all the required information together in time for the deadline. 

For more information about the REPF, please consult the government's prospectus for the fund:

Rural England Prosperity Fund Prospectus (external website)

Where can I find out more about the REPF?

The council hosted a webinar regarding REPF for groups, organisations and businesses interested in finding out about the fund on Monday 10 October. To watch a recording of the webinar, please click on the link below:

YouTube - Rural England Prosperity Fund webinar (external website)

Similar to UKSPF and Multiply, local stakeholders are invited to submit project ideas that meet the REPF priorities and align with the East Riding of Yorkshire Rural Strategy 2022-2027 for consideration in the development of the required addendum to the UKSPF investment plan. 

For REPF purposes, eligible activity must take place in rural areas, which are 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

To find out which areas are eligible, you can use the link below to access a map where you can enter a postcode and determine its eligibility:

East Riding REPF Eligibility Map (external website)

If you have a project idea that you would like to submit, please click on the link below to access the project idea form:

REPF Project Idea Form (external website)

Forms must be submitted by 23:59 on 31 October 2022 to be considered.

How do I get further information about the UKSPF, REPF and Multiply activities in the East Riding?

If you have any questions about the ongoing development of the investment plans, please contact us via email.

Email:  economic.development@eastriding.gov.uk

What is the Economic Strategy?

The Economic Strategy identifies the priorities for economic development within the East Riding.

The strategy is coming to the end of its 5-year term and is currently under review.

The document was prepared by the council and is acting as a blueprint in guiding economic activity in the East Riding, with the aim of promoting growth and inclusion all parts of our area. A mid-term review was completed in January 2021 to reflect a new EU-UK relationship, Local Enterprise Partnership reform and the announcement of a broad package of complementary UK-wide funding to support economic development.

The strategy identifies four priorities to enable the East Riding to respond to the Government’s vision at a local level.

It aims to build on the East Riding’s natural strengths, such as those in food, manufacturing and the renewable energy sector while continuing to address longstanding challenges in productivity, innovation, business growth, skills demand and existing pockets of deprivation in urban, rural and coastal areas.

The four priorities identified in the strategy are:

• Business Growth: Support sector growth and bring forward and maintain an attractive portfolio of employment sites in combination with high-quality and effective business support services
• Lifelong Learning: Equip people with the skills they need to progress in the labour market, engage those furthest from employment or education and deliver higher level skills to meet the demands of the local economy
• Quality Locations: Develop a ‘place-based’ approach to meet the housing, infrastructure, employment and local service needs to create sustainable and    growing communities
• Sustainable Economy: Ensure greater cohesion and integration between our natural and economic asset base to contribute towards a more sustainable, low carbon economy.

East Riding Economic Strategy documents are available below:

East Riding Economic Strategy 2018-2022 (pdf 12.3mb)

East Riding Economic Strategy Year 1 Review 2018-2019 (pdf 4mb)

East Riding Economic Strategy Year 2 Review 2019-2020 (pdf 2mb)

East Riding Economic Strategy 2018-2022 Mid-Term Review 2021 (pdf 2.4mb)

What is the Local Economic Assessment (LEA)?

The Local Economic Assessment presents the latest information on the East Riding economy and its Functional Economic Areas (FEAs). Local economies do not adhere to administrative boundaries and so FEAs are useful in allowing the identification of key economic centres, the drivers for economic activity, and growth opportunities and/or challenges to be addressed.

The purpose of an economic assessment is to provide a robust evidence base that will underpin strategic planning, investment decisions, and delivery plans.

The economic assessment consists of the following sections:

• Population
• Economic Performance
• Place
• Businesses
• Labour Market
• Education and Skills
• Quality of Life
• Functional Economic Areas.

The East Riding Local Economic Assessment can be found on the East Riding Intelligence Hub website:

East Riding Intelligence Hub - LEA (external website)

How often will the LEA be updated?

The LEA is a 'live' document hosted by the East Riding Intelligence Hub website and is maintained on an ongoing basis to ensure that it provides the latest available information about the East Riding economy. The assessment is divided into eight chapters with each addressing a different theme.

These profiles can either be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF document and printed as required.

If you have any questions about the East Riding LEA, please contact us via email.

Email: economic.development@eastriding.gov.uk

What is the York, North Yorkshire, East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP) Future Towns Study?

The Regeneration and Funding team worked in partnership with the directors of development at the York, North Yorkshire, East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP – now dissolved) on a study of towns across the York North Yorkshire East Riding area. The first part of the study was undertaken by the Funding, Strategy and Programmes team in Economic Development and provided baseline economic and planning data and local area profiles for 42 towns across the study area. More detailed analysis was undertaken on a sample of 15 towns, and the Team also led on the evaluation of software packages which report on the general health of town centres and high streets. 

This led to the purchase of Local Data Online, from the Local Data Company, with 10 licences over the next 3 years being funded by the YNYER directors of development pooled budget. This provides a 6 monthly tracking service on premises occupancy and uses in town centres for all towns across the UK. Health checks using Local data Online were also provided for the 15 towns. 

The second part of the study was commissioned by YNYER LEP from Metro Dynamics, to report on the future of town centres and high streets across the LEP area. This required critical analysis of current economic conditions and how future trends might impact local communities, along with recommendations as to how to develop solutions for economic success in the future.

The study documents can be viewed and downloaded:

Stage 1A - Future Towns study (pdf 12mb)

Stage 1B - Future Towns study (pdf 14mb)