What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)

This work is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a three-year fund running from 2022-25. It replaces European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and is part of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda. All areas of the UK received an allocation from the Fund via a funding formula, rather than through a competitive process.

The primary goal of UKSPF is to build pride in place and increase life chances across the UK while recognising the acute challenges town centres and communities have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UKSPF funding is split into three investment areas: Communities and Place; Local Business; and People and Skills.

Each investment area is broken down into interventions, which form a menu of options that funding can be used for. E11 is an option within Communities and Place with a focus on Investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups.

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What does Social Economy mean?

The social economy is taken as including organisations having ‘inclusive ownership’ – locally owned and socially conscious organisations with ownership models that enable the wealth created by their users, workers and local communities to be held by them, rather than flowing out as profits to shareholders. This includes:

 

Social enterprises

 

Trading charities

 

Credit unions

 

Community benefit societies

 

Worker co-operatives (co-ops)

 

Consumer co-ops

 

Mutuals

 

Community businesses (for profit but social purpose)

 

Employee-owned private businesses, and entrepreneurs.

As organisations defined by social purpose rather than profit, there is a unique contribution which social economy organisations make to the places in which they operate. They have the familiar economic footprint of all types of businesses (as employers, as purchasers of goods and services) but the benefits of the activity are distributed differently – either as social impact in communities or through more equitable and inclusive forms of ownership.

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How is the E26 Social Economy Programme being delivered in Greater Manchester?

We’re coordinating this programme and working with our partners – a network of Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIO) working to support and strengthen the impact of the social sector (voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations) in our communities.

LIOs have a strong understanding of the needs of individuals and organisations operating in the social economy within their local areas. Under the requirements of E26, LIOs will focus their support on the following themes:

 

Financial and legal

 

Access to and management of physical assets

 

Demonstrating social impact

 

Digital transformation

 

Contract bidding and marketing

The types of support that LIOs will offer include facilitating support networks, providing training courses and giving access to specialists. We’ve launched our programmes of support in local areas across Greater Manchester to support members of those communities on how to set up, develop, grow and collaborate.

The programme started in April 2024 and will finish in March 2025. It will ensure any efforts are built on current support provision, for example, in local areas where Proper Good is being delivered.

What are your ambitions with this programme?

We have a vision where Greater Manchester is powered by and for our people. For example, imagine changing the social care market – currently being eroded through the short-termism of private equity investment – to one driven by citizen economic power. Worker-owned social care co-operatives have the potential to create better provision and better jobs. There is a lot to do to ensure these opportunities are fundamentally inclusive: the social economy needs to be rooted in our diverse and growing communities and we should challenge ourselves to be able to support this.

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Is there anything else going on?

In conjunction with the 10GM programme, our colleagues over at Cooperatives UK are developing the Our Business Hub, which will provide a digital front door for people looking for tools and resources to support their work. It’s not ready yet, but you can keep updated with their progress on X @OurBusinessGm or LinkedIn.

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How can I get involved?

If you’d like to keep up to date with this work, let us know by getting in touch with Raj.

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