The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business and providing opportunities to boost people and skills.

UKSPF has replaced the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). These funds previously helped support job creation, skills programmes, innovation and carbon reduction in the city-region.

The main aims of UKSPF are to:

• Boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards
• Spread opportunities and improve public services
• Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging
• Empower local leaders and communities

Low Carbon Grants

The project includes a grant scheme through which businesses can apply for a financial contribution towards eligible costs of one or more energy-saving interventions.

Carbon survey

You will get a free carbon survey of your business, to establish how much energy you use now and how you could save energy.

The report will identify energy saving improvements the business could invest in and provide a detailed breakdown of the carbon saving, cost, and return on investment for each, so you can decide what’s the right path to take.

About the grants

As part of the Low Carbon scheme, businesses will have the opportunity to apply for funding towards eligible interventions identified in their carbon survey.

The grant will part-fund interventions, with the business making up the rest of the funding itself.

EACH COUNCIL HAS VARYING METHODS AND VALUES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL RAN THEIR LOW CARBON GRANT

For projects costing up to £24,999, you can apply for a 50% grant contribution of £12,500.

For projects costing more than £25,000, you can apply for a grant contribution of between 10% and 50% of the project cost.

The minimum grant you can apply for is £1,500 (for a project with a total cost £3,000).

We at SFI have worked with councils across the UK and hold 4 years experience. We can help you get accepted onto the schemes with a view of installing energy saving measures such as Solar PV, Air source heat pumps & insulation.

We can also put you in contact with installers on our framework who are trusted in the commercial sector who also understand how the grants work.

If you would like to discuss your business and what your local council can offer you, please get in touch with us today.