Purpose

All Rural England Prosperity Funds (REPF) must be fully spent by 31 March 2025. As projects take time to complete and can experience delays, 01 December 2024 has been set as the final date for projects to be completed and claim their grant monies from the Council. Any unspent funds must be returned to government. Whilst grants have already been allocated to businesses, uptake has been slower than anticipated. Given the REPF deadline, it is proposed that a proportion of funds from the remaining business grants are reallocated to the community infrastructure grant scheme. This will enable further support for impactful projects to benefit our communities and help to ensure the REPF allocation is utilised in full within the district by the closure deadline.

Decision

That the proposals outlined in this document be approved.