UK Community Renewal Fund

We are seeking bids from organisations wishing to deliver activity as part of the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Please read the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus and the UK Community Fund Technical Note for Project Applicants and Deliverers before starting work on a bid.

The prospectus provides detailed information on the objectives of the fund, the types of projects it intends to support and how it operates, including the process and selection criteria that will be used to assess bids.

Successful UK Community Renewal Fund bids will be for 2021/22 only and activity must end in March 2022.

Background

To help local areas prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the UK Government is providing funding in 2021/22 through the UK Community Renewal Fund. We are interested in bids that build on local insight and knowledge, and project proposals that align with long-term strategic plans for local growth, target people most in need and support community renewal. In addition, projects should show how they complement other national and local provision. A focus for this Fund is to support innovation and new ideas in these areas, investing in pilots that draw on local insights and which will help places to prepare for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.

East Lothian Council has been designated as a lead authority by the UK Government. As a lead authority, East Lothian Council is responsible for:

• issuing this invitation
• receiving bids
• selecting the bids that will be sent to UK Government for consideration
• paying grants to successful projects and managing their performance

Full details of the role of lead authorities can be found in the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus.

What type of bids are we looking for?

Projects must deliver activity that is line with the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus and align with at least one of these investment priorities:

• investment in skills
• investment for local business
• investment in communities and place
• supporting people into employment

There are no financial allocations to these priorities.

The UK Government anticipates supporting a range of projects by theme and size, but applicants are encouraged to maximise impact and deliverability through larger projects (£500,000+) where this is possible.

As 90% of funding available through the UK Community Renewal Fund is revenue funding and only available in 2021/22, projects should be predominantly, or exclusively revenue based. Projects that focus predominantly on the construction or major refurbishment of buildings, the purchase of land or the purchase of large pieces of equipment will not be supported.

Local priorities

In selecting the bids that will be forwarded to the UK Government for consideration East Lothian Council will prioritise the bids that have the greatest potential to deliver against key local priorities.

We are interested in projects that:

• build on local insight and knowledge, support community renewal, and align with Local Area Plans

• target people most in need and align with the East Lothian Plan 2017-2027 - supporting delivery of its key themes

• support a green economic recovery and align with the East Lothian Economic Development Strategy 2012-2022 and East Lothian Climate Change Strategy 2020-2025

How bids will be assessed

As the lead authority East Lothian Council will assess all bids submitted. Bids will be assessed against:

• the gateway criteria set out in the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus – bids that fail to meet these criteria are ineligible support and will be rejected
• the extent to which they meet the objectives of UK Community Renewal Fund
• the extent to which bids would support the delivery of local growth and employment support priorities

Following assessment east Lothian Council will submit those eligible bids which most strongly meet the UK Community Renewal Fund and local priorities to the UK Government for consideration, up to a maximum of £3m per place.

The UK Government will assess all bids submitted by lead authorities against the criteria set out in the UK Community Renewal Fund Prospectus.

The UK Government will announce the outcome of the assessment process from late July 2021 onwards.

East Lothian Council will enter into a funding agreement with successful bidders.

Submitting a bid

• bids must be submitted using the UK Community Renewal Fund Application Form - bids submitted in any other format will not be accepted
• bids must be submitted to East Lothian Council using this email address: economicdevelopment@eastlothian.gov.uk   
• bids must be submitted by 12noon on 16 June 2021

The UK Community Renewal Fund is a competitive process and East Lothian Council and the UK Government will not enter into discussions with bidders.

East Lothian is not one of the 100 priority areas pre-identified by the UK Government for support through this fund.