Recommendation 5

HM Government Acknowledged

The UK Community Renewal Fund will help inform the design of the UK Shared Prosperity through funding of one year pilots, but the funds are distinct in regard to design, eligibility and duration. Successful UK Community Renewal Fund bids will be for 2021/22 only. The UK Community Renewal Fund aims to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches, aligning national and local provision. We want to use the UK Community Renewal Fund to test greater integration of types of interventions and greater flexibility between investment themes than under EU structural funds. Through these Funds, we will establish new ways of working between the UK Government and places across the UK. The UK Government will work more directly with local partners and communities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, who are best placed to understand the needs of their local areas and more closely aligned to the local economic geographies to deliver quickly on the ground. The UK government is placing greater emphasis on high-quality evaluation, which is critical to understanding what works. To support this, we will publish guidance on the development of evaluation plans, sharing of best practice and will support thinking on consistent indicator requirements for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We will also • develop the supporting infrastructure required to facilitate the efficient sharing of information and data built around user needs. • Undertake a process evaluation to understand how efficient the delivery structures and business processes are, including the impact of capacity funding. • Consider both the impact of funding on place and investment themes. A big part of testing and trialling means evaluating what works well and what does not so that it can feed into the development of both the places and people portions of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Evaluation will be central to this process from the start and should be embedded as a key element of proposals. The UK Community Renewal Fund also offers us an opportunity to establish new ways of working between the UK Government and places across the UK. This has provided an opportunity for the UK Government to work directly with the actors closest to the local needs of citizens to best deliver for communities and establish strong and lasting relationships with local authorities across the UK. We want to work more directly with local partners and communities across the UK, who are best placed to understand the needs of their local areas and more closely aligned to the local economic geographies to deliver quickly on the ground. Since the launch of the UK Community Renewal Fund, MHCLG has hosted several roundtables and discussion groups with a variety of sectors to inform the development of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. These events have not only enabled us to engage stakeholders on specific elements of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund but also gain feedback on the design of the UK Community Renewal Fund. MHCLG is also conducting research with users from across the UK that have experience in applying for funding, including the UK Community Renewal Fund. These engagement exercises are enabling us to learn lessons from the experience of the UK Community Renewal Fund and other funding programmes as we develop the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.