Huntingdonshire Set to Receive £1.5 Million from Shared Prosperity Fund

Huntingdonshire District Council has secured £1.5 million for eight new projects to be delivered under the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The Government funding was confirmed to the region at the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Board in December. Cambridgeshire as a whole will receive £9,872,624, with Huntingdonshire receiving just over £1.5 million directly, for use on local projects.

The projects confirmed for Huntingdonshire are as follows:

• Active Travel Feasibility Studies – £150,000 to produce up to five route feasibility studies to support future external funding bids for new active and sustainable travel routes in Huntingdonshire.
• Community-based Employment & Skills Provision – £273,061 engaging economic inactivity via key community nodes providing tailored and targeted support, including a focus on mental health & wellbeing, volunteering as a route to employment and progression pathways to further develop skills and employment through existing mainstream provision.
• Ramsey Great Whyte Improvements – £220,835 to provide funding to promote the proposed new Market/ Agriculture Hub and surrounding public realm improvement, to support community development and events and activities.
• Vibrant Communities – £155,000 to support events (arts, culture, skills, seasonal & environmental events) in town centres and large villages as part of a wider package of activity to increase footfall and build on the success from the Welcome Back Fund
• Business & IP Centres – £75,000 to continue to support the Business and IP Centre in Huntingdon that provides free access to resources, intelligence, databases and support services to early-stage start-ups, new start-ups and SMEs.
• Manufacturing Digitisation – £280,000 continuing a dedicated support programme for our heritage and foundation sector of manufacturing by supporting local SMEs in the sector to improve productivity and efficiencies.
• Start-up and Entrepreneurship Programme – £100,000 support for pre-start and early-stage ventures to help entrepreneurs gain the skills and knowledge they need to apply for funding and launch their new business idea.
• Reaching for Net-Zero (in partnership with Cambridge City Council & South Cambridgeshire Council) – £320,000 to help small businesses reduce carbon emissions and energy costs.

Executive Councillor for Jobs, Economy & Housing, Cllr Sam Wakeford, said: “We’re excited that we’ve secured funding through the CPCA to enable us to make significant impacts locally across a variety of projects. The Shared Prosperity Fund investment priorities of communities, place, people, and skills and supporting local businesses, align directly with our own. We’re committed to focussing on our priorities through projects such as these that can have positive outcomes for both residents and businesses in our district.”

We have worked with the Combined Authority alongside the local city and district councils to submit an Investment Plan to Government detailing how a range of projects could be funded under the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The projects are set to begin in 2023, with the funding running until early 2025.

For further information on the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, view the press release here.