POWYS County Council’s share of £42 million from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) has been confirmed, councillors were told.

The bid for funding was jointly made during the summer with Ceredigion County Council which will be the “lead authority” in the partnership.

The SPF is seen as the replacement for the European Union structural funding which will stop following Brexit.

Portfolio holder for economic development, Cllr David Selby: “I’m really pleased to be bringing some good news to cabinet.

“The report is on the process that we implement the grants.

“The total Powys amount is just over £27 million over three years starting this financial year.

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“We were hoping to have full confirmation of our allocation in October. However, the final written agreement was only received last week – unfortunately, there’s been a considerable delay however we’ve done the best we can to ensure the delay doesn’t affect investment in our county."

It had been expected that funding for this financial year had to be spent by the end of March 2023, and not knowing if this could be rolled over into the next financial year has caused concern and reluctance to spend money.

Cllr Selby added “What we’re waiting for at the moment is confirmation from the UK Government that we can transfer funds from year one (2022-2023) into year two if that is necessary.”

Director of economy and environment, Nigel Brinn: “It has been a demanding time frame involved here, there’s a bit more work needed in setting up the partnership and the flexibility we seek for year one.

“We are in the final quarter before we get the confirmation of funding.”

Projects need to come under three themes, and these are:

  • Communities and place.
  • Supporting local business.
  • People and skills.

The report adds that to approve that the SPF would be split between the with 40 per cent going to Communities and Place; 40 per cent to Supporting Local Business and 20 per cent to People and Skills.

Cabinet voted unanimously to:

  • Note the public version of the Mid Wales Regional Investment Plan.
  • Approve the proposed implementation and delivery arrangements of the fund
  • Approve that Ceredigion Council receive the funding on behalf of Mid Wales, and to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government.
  • Allow the Powys monitoring officer (Clive Pinney) and director
  • for economy and environment in consultation with the Leader (Cllr James Gibson-Watt and portfolio holder (Cllr David Selby) to agree and sign the Service Level Agreement with Ceredigion Council on behalf of Powys County Council.
  • To give delegated authority for Powys’ s151 officer (Jane Thomas) to sign off claims and approve the process for receiving funds on a local basis on behalf of Powys County Council.