Decision details

Decision to undertake separate awards to successful applicants in Round Three of the UK Shared Prosperity/Rural Prosperity Fund Programme. Specifically including:
Matthew Flinders: Bring Him Home (£35,000)
To promote and progress returning the remains of Matthew Flinders to Donington – the place of his birth – for appropriate celebration and reburial. This will be supported by a programme of events promoting links between South and East Lincolnshire and Australia, with a focus on trade and the visitor economy.
South Holland: The Land We Forgot (£4,152)
A creative, arts and digital research project with local school-age pupils in South Holland, encouraging them to explore the District’s unique local culture and history, resulting in the production of a series of creative pieces that will be shared widely.
Spalding Brass Plaque Trail (£8,124)
An expansion of the recently launched successful Spalding brass plaque trail, delivered with significant additional support from the Arts Council. The focus is on driving significant additional footfall (including shoppers) into Spalding Town Centre and promoting the Town Centre as a place to visit, work and shop.

As part of HMG’s Levelling Up Agenda and in line with the commitments made by South Holland District in the UKSPF Prospectus and Investment Plan, we have committed to invest in high-impact projects across three core themes:
Communities and place - Supporting community groups and investment in community facilities; enhancing the cultural and heritage offer; widening the use of community buildings; initiatives to help support our town centres.
Supporting local business - Helping local businesses invest for future growth; growing the food processing, horticulture and logistics sector; encouraging new businesses to establish; helping the local social and community enterprises to innovate and grow.
People and skills - Developing skills and employment opportunities within the fresh food, food processing and logistics sectors; creating new training hubs; supporting local residents with skills and access to employment.
These allocations principally meet the objectives that we have committed to under the Communities and Place and Supporting Local Businesses Themes and with the projects passing a rigorous assessment process, we are confident that they can deliver the outcomes expected from the Programme quickly and substantively. This has been the basis of the decision.

These funds were allocated on a competitive basis, based on the third round of submitted EoIs to the UK Shared Prosperity and Rural Prosperity Fund. The alternative would be to not award the funding, which would bring severe reputational risk to the Council both with the public and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.