Decision details

Decision made to allocate £40,000 in Rural England Prosperity Fund (£36,800) and UK Shared Prosperity Fund (£3,200) to the current LCF-led GRASSroots Scheme for the purposes of providing an additional £36,800 in capital grant aid to small community projects, as well as Parish Councils and Village Halls. The remainder shall be utilised in the administration and management of these funds. This augments the existing scheme, which has a value of £360,130 and allows the scheme to undertake another, final round of awards (in September 2024) before the end of the UKSPF/RPF Programme (March 2025).

To date, the Fund has delivered 13 individual grants, with nine projects still in current delivery and four already completed. This has led to concordant improvements in community facilities, increased usage of community facilities and an increased number of local small cultural, heritage and arts projects in Boston Borough.

As part of HMG’s Levelling Up Agenda and in line with the commitments made by Boston Borough in the UKSPF Prospectus and Investment Plan, we have committed to invest in high-impact projects across three core themes:

• Communities and place - Supporting community groups and investment in community facilities; enhancing the cultural and heritage offer; widening the use of community buildings; initiatives to help support our town centres.
• Supporting local business - Helping local businesses invest for future growth; growing the food processing, horticulture, and logistics sector; encouraging new businesses to establish; helping the local social and community enterprises to innovate and grow.
• People and skills - Developing skills and employment opportunities within the fresh food, food processing and logistics sectors; creating new training hubs; supporting local residents with skills and access to employment.

These allocations principally meet the objectives that we have committed to under the Communities and Place Themes and with the LCF GRASSroots scheme passing a rigorous assessment in Round Two of UKSPF Awards (June 2023) and since being subject to oversight by the UKSPF Programme Team, Boston UKSPF Partnership Sub-Group, UKSPF Portfolio Holder (Leader of the Council) and Boston Town Deal Board. We are confident that an additional investment in the LCF GRASSroots Scheme can deliver the outcomes expected from the UKSPF/RPF Programme quickly and substantively. This has been the basis of the decision.

These funds were allocated due to efficiency savings being realised through the main UKSPF/RPF Programme, as the team strives to realise the highest possible value for money, in the interests of the taxpayer. The alternative would be to not award the funding, which would bring severe reputational risk to the Council both with the public and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.