Decision

•To allocate UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) for 25/26 to reopen the Shopfront Improvement Grants, for both capital and revenue works.
•To allocated funding from both the UKSPF and the Community Regeneration Partnership (CRP) to secure a planning consultant to support businesses in submitting planning applications for shopfront improvements as required.

Reasons for the decision

The Shopfront Improvement Grant Scheme under UKSPF for 2024/25 was a popular grant scheme and has made a considerable difference to the look of many shops across Tendring, improving not only the physical premises themselves but the appearance and experience for residents and visitors alike.
Lessons learnt from 2024/25 established that businesses struggled with planning applications and/or submitted a request for funding which didn’t allow enough time to seek planning permission.
To address this the scheme will be relaunched and a RfQ process carried out to secure a planning consultant to support those applications received and to allow more business owners the chance to apply for the grant, given the potential/perceived complexity of the planning process. Having this support in place, paid for per application by the UKSPF allocation, would make the scheme more accessible.
The decision to also launch the Shopfront Improvement Grant Scheme under CRP has already been published (see decision link), with eligible premises limited to Clacton on Sea, Holland on Sea and Jaywick Sands under CRP funding criteria. Both these grants will run along side each other and will be supported by the planning consultant.

Alternative options considered

Both the UKSPF and CRP are allocations of funding from MHCLG and must be spent and delivered in full by 31st March 2026, or else be returned to Central Government; there is no option to carry forward as this financial year is the end of the current programme.