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Cambridge City Council

Cambridge residents and businesses set for £1.3 million boost from Shared Prosperity Fund

21 December 2022

CAMBRIDGE City Council’s proposals for a £1.3m package to help support people, local communities and businesses under the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund have been approved.

The £1.3m programme will help to fund a number of projects in Cambridge which have been identified to prioritise the council’s ‘One Cambridge – Fair For All’ vision, and which will support:

  • Young people and disadvantaged communities
  • People in low paid and insecure work at risk of homelessness or harm
  • Local small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recovering from the pandemic and taking action to tackle climate change
  • People and businesses affected by the cost of living crisis

Projects to be funded under Cambridge’s Shared Prosperity Fund programme include:

  • Abbey Community Wealth – a social action partnership to improve quality of life and opportunities for people in Abbey ward
  • Digital community engagement for refugees and people at risk of homelessness to help them with training and employment
  • Providing advice and training support for local businesses most affected by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis
  • Green business grants to help small businesses reduce carbon emissions and energy costs in partnership with South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire District councils
  • Enhancing the area’s visitor economy and local markets including by encouraging people to shop and visit local and a youth enterprise programme for disadvantaged and future traders (these projects in partnership with South Cambridgeshire District Council)
  • Region of Learning – a new digital approach to providing learning, skills and opportunities for young people from less advantaged backgrounds

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has been allocated around £10million in total under the national Shared Prosperity Fund scheme, to be spent on creating quality jobs and healthy lives across all six districts in the county.

The city council’s proposed programme was incorporated into the CPCA’s overall Local Investment Plan which has now been approved by government. Cambridge projects will begin in early 2023 and run until early 2025.

Cllr Mike Davey, Executive Councillor for Finance, Resources and Transformation, said: “We are delighted that our funding proposals have been approved and that we will soon be able to embark upon some very exciting projects which will have a real impact on people’s lives in Cambridge.

“Many people and businesses in Cambridge have been struggling and continue to struggle, with the pressures of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

“Among our priorities as a council are to help those in the most need, reduce inequalities and improve people’s prospects, and this important new funding will help us to do even more in these areas.”