UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Cultural and Visitor Economy survey now open

Rochford District Council has commissioned Blue Sail, a tourism and destination consultancy, to develop a Cultural and Visitor Economy strategy for the District to see how we can grow and support tourism and provide better cultural experiences for local people.

As part of this work, Blue Sail is seeking the views of local residents and organisations in the cultural and visitor economy sectors.

Blue Sail wants to understand how cultural and visitor experiences meet the needs of local residents and their visiting friends and relatives.

They are also asking questions about two important Rochford District Council-owned sites: The Mill Arts & Events Centre (Rayleigh) and The Freight House (Rochford).

Paper copies of the survey are available at Rochford District Council’s offices at South Street, Rochford and at The Mill Arts & Events Centre. Phone 01702 546366 if you would like a copy posted to you.

The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. All findings will be analysed and presented back to the Council anonymously.

This project has been funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The survey closes on 19 September.

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In February 2024, Rochford District Council opened a second funding round of the Rochford District UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

We received a high level of applications when the round closed in March 2024, which far outweighed the funding allocation that was available. Grants of up to £50,000 were awarded for projects supporting two of Rochford’s chosen UKSPF interventions:

• E1 – Funding for improvements to town centres and high streets, including better accessibility for disabled people, including capital spend and running costs; and
• E4 – Enhanced support for existing cultural, historic and heritage institutions that make up the local cultural heritage offer.

Rochford District Council is delighted to announce that over £244,000 in grants has been awarded to support creative, heritage and high street projects that will be delivered between May 2024 and March 2025.

These projects are funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Seven grants have been allocated from the Council’s share of UKSPF in a bid to level up opportunity and prosperity, build pride in our places, strengthen our communities and increase life chances.

The successful applications are:

• National Trust - Improve the paths at Rayleigh Mount to make the heritage asset more accessible, replace and introduce new handrails, create new engaging interpretation and install people counters.
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - Create greater access to the RSPB reserve at Wallasea Island by providing a new accessible toilet facility and provide two new accessible shelters.
• Make Your Market – Support local entrepreneurs and performers, with a spotlight on young people. Markets and events will be held in Rayleigh and Rochford, featuring stallholders, live performances and creative workshops.
• The Cultural Engine – Co-ordinate the Orchard Cultural Programme, celebrating the culture and heritage of the District. Events will be delivered between early summer and late September, with a finale event in Rochford Town Centre on 28 September 2024.
• Essex Cultural Diversity Project – Host an outdoor Global Village event at King George V Playing Fields to celebrate the District’s culture, history and diversity.
• Show Up Productions – Run 22 theatrical performances and ‘have a go’ creative sessions to be delivered in towns and villages across the District.
• Rochford Parish Council – Install new Christmas lights in Market Square and Bradley Way and install footfall counters.

Overview

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was launched in April 2022 and provides £2.6 billion in funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund supports the ambitions of the Levelling Up White Paper and aims to build pride in place and increase life chances across the country.

Rochford District Council has been allocated £1m for local levelling up projects.

Investment Priorities

After consultation with a wide range of community stakeholders in line with UKSPF guidance, the Council has prioritised the following UKSPF interventions in its Investment Plan, which was submitted on 1 August and approved on 5 December 2022:

• E1: Funding for improvements to town centres and high streets, including better accessibility for disabled people, including capital spend and running costs (£300k)
• E4: Enhanced support for existing cultural, historic and heritage institutions that make up the local cultural heritage offer. (£600k)
• E23: Strengthening local entrepreneurial ecosystems, and supporting businesses at all stages of their development to start, sustain, grow and innovate, including through local networks (£100k)

Funding Profile

The Government has specified how the funding will be distributed to each local authority each year. The Rochford funding profile is as follows:

Funding Profile

UKSPF funds can be allocated in a combination of grants to public or private organisations, commissioning third party organisations, procurement of service provision and in-house provision.

Rochford Local Partnership Group

Lead authorities must create a Local Partnership Group to provide advice on strategic fit and deliverability. This will ensure that Fund investments complement other activities in the area and meets Fund and local objectives. The government has recommended the types of partners that should be represented on the group.

The Rochford Local Partnership Group first met in March 2023 and will meet quarterly thereafter until March 2025.

Governance

As the Investment Plan has now been approved in principle by Government, a paper setting out next steps and steps for implementation was presented at the meeting of the Executive on 19 January 2023.

Details of how to put projects forward, including any grant programme, will be published on this page in due course, alongside any initiatives directly commissioned by the Council.