Shared Prosperity Fund - application guidance

Scoring matrix

Rating

Criteria

Score

Very Good

• Demonstrates a very strong alignment to local and national priorities, evidence of need and local engagement.
• Project offers very good value for money, unit costs per output/outcome are very good, with an exit strategy that demonstrates sustainability post-grant funding
• Complete confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Very good prospects for project success

5

Good

• Demonstrates a good alignment to local and national priorities, evidence of need and local engagement.
• Project offers good value for money, unit costs per output/outcome are good, with an exit strategy that outlines the potential to sustain the project post-grant funding
• High level of confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Good prospects for project success

4

Acceptable

• Demonstrates an acceptable alignment to local and national priorities, evidence of need and local engagement.
• Project offers reasonable value for money, unit costs per output/outcome are acceptable, with an exit strategy that outlines some potential options for sustaining delivery post-grant funding.
• Some acceptable weaknesses or deficiencies in deliverability
• Reasonable level of confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Reasonable probability of project success

3

Marginal

• Demonstrates a basic but limited alignment to local and national priorities, evidence of need and local engagement.
• Possibly capable of delivering and achieving proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Project unlikely to offer value for money, unit costs per output/outcome are high, with an exit strategy that fails to provide confidence in continuity post-grant funding
• Some weaknesses or deficiencies
• Limited level of confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Possibility of project success

2

Poor

• Demonstrates a very limited understanding of local need, engagement, or very limited ability to meet alignment to local and national priorities
• Major weaknesses or deficiencies
• Project fails to offer value for money, unit costs per output/outcome are very high. Exit strategy is poor.
• Very limited level of confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• Low probability of project success

1

Unacceptable

• Fails to meet the criterion in all respects
• Indicates a complete misunderstanding of, or non-compliance with, stated requirements
• No confidence in deliverability and the achievement of proposed outputs and outcomes.
• No prospect of project success

0

Part 1 - applicant information (eligibility check)

1a) Project Name

Please provide a headline project name. Your project name should give whoever is reading your application a feel for your project before they've read the description. Please limit this to a short sentence at most to make it memorable.

All project bids will be allocated a specific SPF bid number on submission. This bid number and the name specified here will then be used to refer to the bid in all future correspondence.

1b) Lead Applicant Organisation

Please confirm the legal name of the lead applicant organisation.

1c) Start and end dates for the project

This includes the earliest and latest permissible dates right through to delivery and your final submission of claims.

1d) Project Costs and Funding

Please confirm the total Shared Prosperity Fund grant request, any match funding you are providing and total project cost

1e) Lead Applicant Name and Position

The Lead Applicant is the person with day-to-day responsibility for delivering the project.

1f) Lead Applicant Contact Telephone Number

Provide contact telephone number/s where Lead Applicant can be contacted

1g) Lead Applicant Email Address

Email address where Lead Applicant can be contacted

1h) Applicant's Organisations Postal Address

Provide Lead Applicant postal address only.

1i) Secondary contact's name and position:

Please identify an alternative contact who could be contacted in the absence of the Lead Applicant

1j) Secondary contact telephone number:

Provide contact telephone number for the secondary contact

1k) Secondary contact email address:

Email address for secondary contact

1l) Secondary contact organisation's postal address:

Postal address for secondary contact

1m) Website

Please provide full website address

1n) Company or Charity Registration Number 

Please write N/A if not applicable.

1o) VAT Registration Number

Please write N/A if not applicable

1p) Type of Organisation

• Local authority 
• Private sector 
• Voluntary sector 
• University 
• FE College 
• Other (please specify)

Please ensure you tick the relevant box to confirm your organisation type.

If other, please specify.

1q) Is this a joint partnership bid?

Applicant to tick the relevant box to confirm.

Where a joint bid is submitted, a joint bid form must be provided for all partner organisations. One organisation will be required to act as a lead applicant. Lead applicants must ensure that all partner organisations are eligible to receive UKSPF funding and comply with all UKSPF requirements as set out in the prospectus and additional information. Please ensure that the legally registered names and registration numbers are provided for each partner organisation.

The following are not classed as partner organisations:

• organisations procured to provide goods, services or works as part of the project
• partners involved in project governance e.g. members of a project board or steering group

N.B. If you cannot fulfil these requirements, your application will be rejected

1r) All applicants to confirm that:

(i) The project will be delivered by a corporate body that has ability or permission to receive public funds'.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(ii) You have submitted a fully completed application, including Annex A.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(iii) No funds will be spent on items or activities excluded from UKSPF support, as set out at 7.5.1 of the prospectus: UK Shared Prosperity Fund: prospectus - The Fund's parameters (gov.uk) (opens new window)

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(iv) You have read and will comply with all aspects of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund: branding and publicity (www.gov.uk) (opens new window)

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(v) Joint bids:

You have submitted a joint bid form (where applicable) for each organisation involved in the project. That all consortium members have confirmed their support for the project, including any match funding they are providing.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(vi) Match funding (where it forms part of the funding package):

You have submitted a match funding form for every organisation providing match funding, including income from beneficiaries. If the project relies on match funding that has not yet been secured, use this form to explain when it is expected to be secured and what the impact would be if it is not secured.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(vii) Private and Voluntary Sector Applicants:

Please confirm you have attached copies of the 2 most recent full financial year's accounts and the current year's management accounts for the lead applicant.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(viii) Please confirm that within the past 5 years your organisation or any person who has powers of representation, decision or control within the organisation, has not been convicted anywhere in the world of the offences listed below:

• Participation in a criminal organisation
• Corruption
• Fraud
• Terrorist offences or links to terrorist activity
• Money laundering or terrorist financing
• Child labour or any form of trafficking human beings

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

(ix) If the organisation or anyone with powers of representation, decision or control has been convicted of one of these offences in the past 5 years, please provide details in the box below:

Please provide full details of any offences and convictions.

Part 2 - project summary

2a) Brief summary of activities or services you propose to deliver

(100 words max)

Please provide a short description to summarise the project, its activities and the services you propose to deliver. It should give a clear and concise - a snapshot that could be understood by someone unfamiliar with the project.

2b) Is the application being submitted in response to an open call grant funding opportunity or to apply for an anchor project?

Anchor projects are major projects run in-house by local authorities to deliver significant parts of the Regional Investment Plan.

Please tick the relevant box to confirm.

If you are responding to an open call, please include the Open Call Reference and closing date of the specific call

2c) Please confirm below which investment priority is being covered by this project.

• Communities and Place 
• Supporting Local Business
• People and Skills
• Multiply

Please tick the investment priority relevant to the project.

Projects must demonstrate how they align with at least one of the investment priorities and interventions.

Full details of the investment priorities are set out in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund: prospectus (gov.uk) (opens new window) and the Regional Investment Plan.

2d) Please list all UK Shared Prosperity Fund interventions your project will deliver and highlight the primary intervention in bold.

Please refer to Annex A or  UK Shared Prosperity Fund (PDF) [458KB] for a list of interventions under each of the three investment priorities.

You should provide a list of all the interventions your project will deliver and then highlight in bold the main intervention that your project will deliver (in terms of highest level of spend).

2e) Please provide a detailed description of the proposed activities and services

(1500 words max) 

Please outline the objectives of your project here.

Your answer should explain what you propose to deliver, how activities and services will be delivered to meet the interventions listed in 2d above, who the beneficiaries will be and where delivery will take place. 

It can be difficult to judge whether an application you've written yourself is easy for an outsider to understand, so we suggest asking somebody who is not familiar with your project to read your description and explain it back to you.

2f) Please provide a list of your delivery partners and their role in the project

Please provide organisation name, what their role is in the project, whether they are responsible for specific interventions or outputs/ outcomes.

Local project leads will need to have agreements or contracts / data sharing protocols in place before the start of project delivery.

2g) Please explain how your proposed activities align to the Regional Investment Plan for South-West Wales and how it delivers the objectives and interventions outlined by the UK Government.

(750 words max)

Applicants should demonstrate strong links to the Regional Investment Plan and how the activities proposed will deliver against this.

2h) How does the proposal align with local needs and long-term strategic plans for local growth?

(500 words max)

All applicants should explain how the project aligns with local needs and supports the delivery of long-term strategic plans for growth.

Regional Skills Partnerships (gov.wales) (opens new window)

Swansea Economic Recovery Action Plan (PDF) [400KB]

South West Wales Regional Economic Delivery Plan

2i) Where there is other provision available or planned, what steps have you taken to ensure that your project will not duplicate this provision?

(500 words max)

Where there is other provision available or planned, you should explain what steps you have taken to ensure that your project will not duplicate this provision or displace existing demand. Please explain how you will avoid duplication provision in the anchor projects for this local authority area.

2j) Please demonstrate how you have engaged with and secured support from appropriate local, regional and national stakeholders in the development of this project.

(250 words) 

Applicants to provide details of stakeholder engagement at the time of submission from local, regional and national stakeholders.

2k) Which places will benefit from the activity?

Please detail the geographic area(s) to which the project will be delivered, and which areas will benefit from the activity. State postcode for capital build projects or local authority area for any other project.

2l) What are the key milestones for the implementation of the project?

Please complete Annex A - T5 Delivery Milestones

Please complete the milestones contained in Annex A

These key milestones must link to the proposed activities and demonstrate that the project is deliverable by 31 December 2024. Do not include milestones relating to the approval of the bid. Consider: 

• securing internal approvals for the project or any other funding 
• establishing the project team and procurement for external services/suppliers 
• project launch and recruiting beneficiaries
• key points on the beneficiary journey 

Projects will be monitored against these milestones.

2m) Capital Projects only:

All capital projects should consider the following:

• Community engagement in design
• Designing out crime
• Accessibility
• Sustainable maintenance of any asset developed/ extended
• The use of volunteering to embed the asset in the local community
• The social benefits that will be generated, in line with local authority policy. Beyond bricks and mortar

For capital projects only:

Please use this section to describe how you have considered the principles set out as part of the design of the proposed activities.

For example, provide evidence to demonstrate how community engagement helped in the shaping and designing of the project.

Part 3 - project impact

For questions 3a-3f, please describe in 500 words or less. Please be as concise as possible.

3a) What UK Shared Prosperity Fund Outputs and Outcomes will the project deliver? In your response, please explain how these outputs and outcomes have been estimated and evidenced?

Please describe and complete Annex A Workbook

A short description should be provided to summarise the project's outputs and outcomes, providing an explanation as to how the project activity will generate the anticipated outputs and outcomes, how you have estimated the figures and how your project will be able to evidence the outputs and outcomes.

3b) Explain the extent to which these outputs or outcomes could be achieved without UKSPF funding

To what extent could the outputs or outcomes you have included in Annex A be achieved if you do not receive any UKSPF funding?

3c) How does the project support the Government's Net Zero ambitions or wider environmental considerations?

All proposed activities should be based on low or zero carbon best practice and support the growing skills and supply chains in support of Net Zero where possible. As a minimum, investment under this fund should meet the clean growth principle and must not conflict with the UK's legal commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. You should explain in this answer how you will meet this requirement. This could include implications of your project for biodiversity and protected species, as well as other environmental considerations such as air quality, flood mitigation, waste management and recycling and circular economy.

3d) How does the project demonstrate innovation in service delivery?

Describe how the project demonstrates innovation in service delivery for example: 

• introducing new delivery approaches 
• new integrated approaches across policy themes or 
• collaboration across areas 
• testing existing approaches with different types of beneficiaries, new ways of using digital technology to support beneficiaries.

3e) Please describe how you have considered the equalities impacts of your proposal, the relevant affected groups based on protected characteristics, and any measures you propose in response to these impacts. Please also outline how your proposal will support the Welsh Language throughout project delivery.

In line with the Equalities Act 2010, projects will need to consider their equalities impacts, particularly in relation to groups with protected characteristics, and outline how they will address these.

Projects should also outline how they will meet national requirements to support the Welsh Language in delivery and in promotional work.

3f) Where appropriate please outline how your proposal will support rural areas and align with local rural development strategies.

Please outline how your proposed project will directly or indirectly benefit rural areas and deliver against key priorities and objectives outlined in local development strategies, as appropriate.

Part 5 - procurement

5a) Please outline any elements of the project that you are likely to procure?

As part of your response please also:

• Indicate the procurement strategy and route that you will follow.
• Confirm that the procurement route undertaken will meet Public Contract Regulations 2015 and 2020 amendments.
• Note guidance on SPF Procurement Route & Thresholds (swansea.gov).
• Outline how you will successfully manage contracts to achieve agreed Key Performance Indicators.

(max 750 words)

Applicants are asked to describe their approach and identify the elements of the Project they are likely to procure, confirm the procurement strategy route and provide details regarding how they will manage the monitoring requirements, the contract and performance indicators.

You will be required to follow the SPF procurement route and thresholds applicable in your local authority area.

Part 6 - project management and applicant experience

Please limit your responses to each question to 750 words or less. Please be as concise as possible.

6a) How will you manage the project? If this is a multi-agency project, how will this be managed effectively? Please include details of your governance arrangements for the project.

The deliverability of projects is a significant element of the criteria that will be used to assess bids for the Shared Prosperity Fund. It is important that we have confidence that organisations that are offered funding can implement their projects quickly and effectively.

It is however essential that organisations can draw on relevant experience and are able to demonstrate they have or will have access to the resources and expertise they need to deliver the project.

6b) Please describe the financial and performance monitoring systems and processes that will be used to robustly record project expenditure and outputs/outcomes. 

Your response needs to include what you will be putting in place, the controls and processes and how you and any external deliverer will capture, record, evidence and store information. Include reporting mechanisms, schedules and timings and how you will manage staff resources.

6c) What experience does the organisation have of delivering this type of activity? As part of your response please also:

• Describe the resources and relevant expertise that the organisation has available currently to deliver the project.
• If your organisation needs to recruit staff or appoint contractors, advise what plans are in place to manage the risk of delay?

Provide an example of experience delivering this type of activity.

Provide details of staff working on the project, their role, experience/ expertise.

Your response on risk of delay should advise on duration of potential delays together with a solution to minimise any delays. 

Part 7 - project risk management

7a) Summarise the key risks to the project below and describe the process that will be used to monitor risk. Please also complete Annex A - T6 Risk Register

Please be as concise as possible.

(500 words or less)

This should provide a clear summary of the key risks to delivering the project activity and achieving the project's objectives. 

Describe how the risk identified will be monitored, what systems will be used, and who is responsible.

Be realistic, projects rarely run exactly as planned. The project must demonstrate that risks have been considered and appropriate plans are in place to keep the project on track.

Part 8 - evaluation

8a) Please confirm that you will retain all relevant data on your project, including beneficiary data, and provide this on request to Local Lead Body, Regional Lead or DLUHC or its agents, for monitoring or evaluation purposes.

Please tick the relevant box.

8b) If you intend to carry out any project evaluation, please describe any plans you have to evaluate how the project was delivered and its impact on your intended beneficiaries.

(500 words)

If you intend to evaluate your project, outline the approach and why this is the most applicable methodology. Include your research questions and justification and a plan on how findings will be used and disseminated. If the Local Lead Body, Regional Lead or DLUHC needs to carry out evaluation of the UKSPF, confirm that you will provide relevant data and set out how you'll do it. The governance arrangements will need to specify clear accountability with identified resources and committed to enable to achieve the project objectives within the timeframe set out.

Part 9 - exit strategy

9a) Please outline your exit strategy. Consider if any activities will continue and how these will be funded.

(500 words)

Currently the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is operating to 31^st December 2024. It's important for us to know what your plans are for the end of your project. As part of your answer please consider:

• Do you intend for delivery of some or all your activities to continue? If so, which?
• How will any future activity be funded?
• How might your project be developed further or evolve?
• Will your project ultimately lead to another stage of delivery?
• If delivery will not continue, what do you envisage will happen next?

Part 10 - subsidy control

All bids must also consider how they will deliver in line with subsidy control as per UK Government guidance.

UK subsidy control regime (gov.uk) (opens new window)

Where applicants do not adequately demonstrate that the proposed project is compliant under the UK Subsidy Control Regime it may be considered ineligible, and your application could be rejected.

10a) Is the direct award of UKSPF funds to you (as the applicant) considered to be a subsidy?

Please tick the relevant box.

Please refer to the link above for further guidance.

10b) Please explain the rationale for your response

10c) If award of funding does constitute a subsidy, how will this comply with relevant legislation?

10d) Does any aspect of the activities involve the provision of subsidies to end beneficiaries?

Please tick the relevant box.

Please refer to the link above for further guidance.

10e) If no, briefly explain the rationale for this response

10f) If yes, briefly explain how the subsidies are compliant with the UK's subsidy control regime as set out in the guidance.

10g) Please describe the system in place to report and monitor on any subsidies provided by the project

Part 11 - data protection

Please note that the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (the Department) will be a Data Controller for all UK Shared Prosperity Fund-related Personal Data collected with this form and submitted to the Department, and the control and processing of Personal Data. 

Each Local Authority has been invited to run a local bidding process and will be a Data Controller for all UK Shared Prosperity Fund related Personal Data collected with the relevant forms as part of this process, and the control and processing of Personal Data, where such applications are not submitted to the Department for consideration.

The Local Authority, Regional Lead Authority and the Department will processes all data according to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (UK GDPR) all applicable laws and regulations relating to processing of Personal Data and privacy, including, where necessary, the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner and any other relevant data protection regulations (together "the Data Protection Legislation (as amended from time to time)"). 

As a Processer of UK Shared Prosperity Fund-related Personal Data your organisation and the City and County of Swansea and Regional Lead Authority must ensure that such Personal Data is processed in a way which complies with the Data Protection Legislation (as amended from time to time).

By proceeding to complete and submit this form, you consent that the Local Authority, Regional Lead Authority and its contractors where relevant, and the Department, and its contractors where relevant, may process the Personal Data that it collects from you, and use the information provided as part of the application to the Department for funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, as well as in accordance with its privacy policies. For the purposes of assessing your bid the Local Authority, Regional Lead Authority and Department may need to share your Personal Data with other Government departments (such as the Department for Work and Pensions) and departments in the Devolved Administrations, including partner organisations and by submitting this form you are agreeing to your Personal Data being used in this way. 

Data Controller, Personal Data, Personal Data and Processor all have the meaning given to them in the Data Protection Legislation (as amended from time to time). 

Part 12 - project applicant statement

Please read the statement and conditions.

Applicant to sign that they have read the statement, confirm position in organisation and date.

Draft document

AJJ / SG/ AP

Sent for feedback

Regional Group

1/12/22

Update doc. With feedback

AJJ

12/12/22

Updated with GE & PR & CJ

AJJ

31/1/23

Sent for translation

AJJ

6/2/23